Over 100 area families in need will have toys under their tree and food on their table this holiday season, thanks to the Optimist Club of Moore.
The group's 38th annual Operation Christmas Tree campaign, which provides food and toy hampers for the less fortunate, kicked off Thursday with the traditional Poor Boy Luncheon at the Royal Canadian Legion in Corunna.
Operation President Lorne Powell said the goal of the campaign is to ensure everyone has a Merry Christmas.
"When you look at the years that this has gone on, when you look at the amount of groceries and money we've raised to keep this going, you just can't say enough about the community spirit here," he said.
Powell said last year, the campaign handed out 107 hampers to 144 adults and 109 kids, down from 2010 when they handed out 140 hampers to 177 adults and 140 kids.
He said the decline hopefully means the need for the initiative is shrinking.
"I never hope for more hampers, I always hope for less because it's a good sign when you're putting out fewer hampers. I want to see everybody get a good Christmas, that's our goal, if you like. It's for everybody in the community to have whatever they need to get a good Christmas."
Lorne Powell at the annual Operation Christmas Tree kick-off.
Powell said the campaign is a total community effort and that area students are always excited to take part.
"Five schools in Corunna, Courtright, Mooretown and Brigden all bring in non-perishable food items and toys, and a little bit of cash, and they are our biggest suppliers of non-perishable food items, actually," said Powell. "If you looked at from the parents that buy the groceries, to the kids that bring it in, to the teachers that pile it up and count it, to the firefighters and the OPP, there's probably thousands of people involved in this."
Donations of non-perishable food, cash and new toys for children can be dropped off at the OPP Emergency Services Building at 392 Lyndoch St. weekdays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. from November 26 to December 19.
For more information, including about how to register for a hamper, click here.
