A Calgary charity is facing a heart-breaking situation.
“I don’t know if it’s that there’s not enough snow on the ground or time just passed,” said Suzan Valenta, director of philanthropy at Closer To Home (CTH) said while explaining the charity has come up short on its annual Adopt-A-Family campaign in more than one way.
“Or if, you know, a lot of Albertans and Calgarians are suffering themselves and we’re all just perhaps one or two paychecks away from needing support like what Closer To Home can offer.”
With a Friday deadline, the organization said it’s hoping for a miracle to be able to give $125 gift cards to 195 families who were on the list this year to receive one. However, Valenta pointed out due to a plethora of reasons within the pandemic, they also have an additional 360 families on a waiting list, something she said she’s never seen before.
“A lot of the other organizations that can provide support are tapped out,” she said.
Like many others, CTH had to pivot during the pandemic, changing the way it does the holiday program from hampers filled with goods and toys to gift cards for the families to spend on what they need most.
Valenta said they discovered when families received the gift card last year as compared to the previous years hamper, the feedback they got was that it gave empowerment to the parents and caregivers.
Whether it be new socks, a backpack, a winter coat or a treat of a Christmas cake, parents are able to make that decision — something that Calgary resident Hans Kux knows about all too well.
While growing up, Kux said his mom had used Adopt-A-Family services such like the one CTH offers.
“Organizations like that, when we were younger, really stepped in. Not only to help us children to feel like we’re getting a Christmas and to be part of society — it wasn’t so much us kids thinking we were a part of society — but more my mother,” Kux said.
“It’s not only the kids you’re helping, it helped my mom in a huge aspect to feel like she’s actually doing something for children, even though it wasn’t her who was going out and using ‘her’ money per se to buy gifts and such or have Christmas hampers — it was still the effort to get something for her family.”
Kux said even if it was just during the holidays, the small, yet not so small gesture to someone who’s struggling meant more than anyone would ever know.
Though the deadline is around the corner, Valenta said the organization will work toward getting the remaining families adopted along with those on the waitlist taken care of even after Santa has come and gone.
To donate to Closer To Home’s Adopt-A-Family campaign, click here.
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