Christmas Bureau puts out urgent call for Taste of Edmonton volunteers

As the Taste of Edmonton gets underway Thursday, the Christmas Bureau has put out an urgent call to help fill some volunteer shifts.

The Christmas Bureau is looking for people to help as gate monitors to track people coming in and out of the site, as well as watch for any inappropriate behaviour and report it to security accordingly.

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The shifts are from 10:45 a.m to 3 p.m., 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. and 7 p.m. to 11 p.m.

“Because we have a sponsor, each four-hour volunteer shift means that a single parent with two children will receive a festive meal this Christmas,” the bureau said in a statement, adding that the goal of the event is to provide for 500 single-parent families.

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The Taste of Edmonton local food festival at Capital Plaza (99 Avenue and 108 Street) on the Alberta Legislature grounds runs from Thursday until July 28.

The Christmas Bureau of Edmonton is a non-denominational charity that works alongside 630 CHED Santas Anonymous and Adopt a Teen to provide food and gifts for local families in need during the holidays.

The three agencies work together to ensure families receive food hampers or food gift cards as well as gift cards for teens and toys for kids under 12.

In 2018, 39,137 individuals were provided a meal, of which 14,867 were children under the age of 12 and 4,702 were teens aged 13 to 17.

The Christmas Bureau said that of the people it serves, 69 per cent are families, 21 per cent are individuals and couples without children and 10 per cent are seniors.

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To volunteer or for more info, please call Stephanie at 780-414-7681 or visit the Christmas Bureau website.