Operation Christmas Tree to help over 200 people

Blake Ellis/The Independent

Operation Christmas Tree – with the help of Santa and Mrs. Claus – have been busy collecting donations for its annual Christmas hamper program in Corunna.
Santa and Mrs. Claus, along side a fire truck welcomed people giving donations in the parking lot of Corunna’s OPP building on Lyndoch Street recently.

Operation Christmas Tree started in 1985 as part of the Yule Glow Program by Ken Lavoie, Corunna’s Postmaster. At that time, about 17 families were assisted through the work of an informal organization put together of the Corunna, Courtright, Brigden and Mooretown Post Offices

This year Operation Christmas Tree will deliver 130 hampers and will give some Christmas cheer to 209 individuals in the northern part of St. Clair Township this year. This is an increase from the 120 hampers the group delivered last year.

“The community always gives a tremendous amount” said Operation Christmas Tree President Stan Marsh. “This room will be full,” he said standing in the middle of a staging area at the headquarters at the corner of Hill and Lyndoch Streets.

Operation Christmas Tree is using the Optimist Club of Moore’s meeting room in the OPP building to keep all of its donations until they can be delivered with the help of the St. Clair Township Fire Department Dec. 21.

Donations of can goods and non-perishable food items, along with cash and new toys are being accepted.

Marsh said Operation Christmas Tree already had a three week period where registrations for Christmas hampers were accepted and the group is now into three weeks of accepting donations which will end on Dec. 19.

Marsh said the best idea for a donation is always cash, so volunteers can go shopping for what is needed.

Marsh said the local schools also get involved with their annual Christmas drives.

Any food collected will be given to the food banks in Corunna and Brigden. Hampers will include gift cards so food for a Christmas dinner can be purchased, as well as age appropriate toys for any children among the families.

In south St. Clair, Sacred Heart volunteers to help 70 families

Heather Wright/The Independent

The need the volunteers at Sacred Heart Food Bank see at Christmas is not a big surprise.

There has been a food bank of some kind in Port Lambton for 40 years, says Frank Johnston. He and the 25 or so volunteers working in south St. Clair Township regularly feed between 20 and 25 families a month. Many need government help to survive, and social assistance only goes so far, Johnston said.

“I talked to one guy, and he showed me his bank account at the end of the month, he had $20 by the time he paid his bills.”

At Christmas, the number of people who need help swells to between 67 and 82 families in the last three years. Johnston expects Christmas 2024 to be no different.

The food bank in Port Lambton began 40 years ago under the St. Vincent de Paul banner. Later it moved to a local church basement, and then to Sacred Heart Catholic Church. But the space, especially at Christmas time when the giant food boxes are prepare, there was never enough room.

This year, there is more space.

Recently, The St. Clair Catholic School Board offered the food bank a portable. It wouldn’t be needed after an addition was built on the Port Lambton School. In November, just as the Christmas food drive was starting, the new shelves in the bright clean building still smelled of paint and were just waiting for the donations volunteers would pick up around Port Lambton.

Johnston told The Independent the groups with social services to identify families in need this time of year. Then, volunteers drive the roads, picking up donations to fund the project. Any food collected goes to food banks.

The Sacred Heart volunteers assemble multiple boxes for the families who will receive the gift. Depending on the its size, the family could receive seven boxes of food and toys he says.

“And if there are teenagers, they get more, because they can eat. They get from eight to 10 boxes.”

Johnston adds, there are gift cards for the families to buy what they want for Christmas dinner, too.

The Port Lambton Community, Johnston says, is “very generous” helping to fund the Christmas relief program.

“This community is unbelievable. Through financial assistance and food, unbelievable what they they donate,” he said as they geared up for the drive.

And he says, those who receive the help appreciate it. Johnston says some even come back to help others.

“I had a woman, she donated the 12 bags of potatoes, four bags of apples, and gave me a cheque. She gave me a cheque, and she says, ‘I just want to pay back.’ She was one of my clients.”

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