District children need your help

News Release
Salvation Army

For most, Christmas is a time of anticipation—a time when the world seems a little brighter. For many children in Fort Frances and Rainy River District, however, this is not the case.
Instead of that bright excitement, they face disappointment; the simple joy of having a gift to open or a nice meal on Christmas Day is something that many cannot be sure of.
Together, we can make sure these childhood pleasures are not stolen away from them by the struggles of the adult world.
There are many ways you can help spread Christmas joy in our district.
For instance, the annual Santa Claus parade will be held this Saturday (Nov. 24). By bringing along non-perishable food items and toys to donate, you can help to fill Christmas hampers that will go to the less fortunate.
Some non-perishable food items most in demand are canned soups, canned vegetables, canned fruit, canned meat, Kraft dinner, pasta, spaghetti sauce, cereal, peanut butter, jam, tea, coffee, sugar, and flour.
Meanwhile, the annual Fort Frances Christmas Teddy Bear Drop-off is expected to be held sometime during the first week of December at the Memorial Sports Centre.
Donate a teddy bear and bring happiness to a child.
It’s not uncommon to see our well-known Salvation Army Christmas kettles at different stores during the holidays. Help out by donating a little loose change to help us help others.
This year, the Salvation Army also will have a kettle logo campaign. For $5, you can purchase a red paper kettle, put your name on it, and have it displayed at one of several local businesses where they will be available.
Every little bit helps, and 100 percent of the donations made to these kettles will go directly to helping the people of our own community.
We also are still looking for sponsors for both the “Sponsor a Family” and “Adopt a Family” programs. These programs are tangible ways you can make a difference in a family’s life.
These programs are designed to assist families whose finances cannot support the added costs that Christmas can bring and/or families that are facing some sort of crisis at this time of year.
Call our office and we would be happy to answer any questions you may have about these programs.
For those young (and not so young) citizens who would like to donate some of your time to our Christmas campaign, there are ways you can help out, too.
We need volunteers to help us put together Christmas hampers, and to ring the bells at the Christmas kettles.
The Christmas kettle campaign will kick off Nov. 29 at 10 a.m. at Safeway.
If you would like to man a kettle for a few hours through your business, personally, or if you would like to help out in any other way, give us a call at 274-3871.
Those of you who want to apply for a hamper can stop by the Salvation Army on Nov. 26 and take home a registration form. Please return the registration form, with the proper identification and signature, on Nov. 27.
Don’t forget to bring along photo identification for adults and proper identification for children.
Christmas can be a very difficult time for many, not just financially but spiritually, as well. Please consider helping us to help others through our Christmas campaign 2007.
Once again this holiday season, the Salvation Army is excited about the work that the Lord is doing in our community—and we believe we will meet our goal of “giving hope today throughout the Christmas season.”
Put good intentions into action again this Christmas.