Thousands of people will be reaching out for help from the Surrey Christmas Bureau this holiday season.
“We can hardly afford our basement suite that we’re renting, let alone anything better,” Bureau user Scott, who did not want his last name used, told CKNW.
Scott was lined up outside the Surrey Christmas Bureau, located in the old roller rink at Surrey Centre to register for gifts and a hamper.
He’s been on disability along with his wife after a bad car crash.
He said he struggles to the pay the $750 a month to rent a basement suite and if it wasn’t for the Christmas bureau, his kids, aged 10 and 16, wouldn’t have much of a Christmas at all.
“What little that we can spend we do, but with coming here, they help out a lot with extra presents, the Christmas meal and just makes the whole experience so much easier,” Scott said.
LISTEN: The Surrey Christmas Bureau will serve more than two-thousand families this holiday season and more than four-thousand children. It opened this week and CKNW senior reporter Janet Brown went to check it out.
Michelle Roxborough is one of 328 people who volunteer at the bureau.
She said the experience makes her feel like she is helping out the community and others less fortunate than her.
Executive director Lisa Werring said the Bureau helps more than 2,000 families in Surrey and the need grows every year.
“Children are the unintended consequences of poverty, of struggle, and they really just need help and all kids should be able to enjoy Christmas,” she said.
The Surrey Christmas Bureau is the largest in B.C.
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