The Children’s Foundation of Guelph and Wellington says people can donate used Christmas trees in the annual Trees for Tots campaign.
The annual initiative will have volunteers collect Christmas trees in Guelph, Puslinch and Rockwood for a minimum donation of $15.
The trees are chipped and returned to nature.
Amanda Kavchak, director of marketing and community engagement at the Children’s Foundation and one of the leads for the campaign, said it has been so successful for multiple reasons.
The campaign, which is entering its 10th year, not only provides a service that might be hard for some people to access, but it also allows them to give to a charity.
She said community support is important to the campaign.
“Through our social media and all of our different marketing initiatives, we really try to make sure that they understand what the need is in our community, how it’s growing, and how their dollars really support local children and youth,” Kavchak said.
Kavchak said people are really drawn to the campaign because it’s a really fun event, it’s a way for people to get involved, and it helps support children and youth.
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She said Trees for Tots sees an increase in the number of people who donate and who register each year.
However, Kavchak said she is aware of the economic challenges this year.
She said there has been a shortage of trees in the last two years and people are travelling more following the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We try to make it so that this event is actually acceptable to anyone and everyone and we understand there’s a lot of economical change that’s coming and a lot of people aren’t able to afford all of these different services,” she said.
Kavchak said the suggested minimum donation helps organizers project what they can see coming in from the event. She said it’ll be tough to predict how much money Trees for Tots earns this year because it is a service that depends on other factors
The goal is always to raise as much money as possible and whether the campaign surpasses last year’s amount, the money will be going to a good cause.
In 2022, Trees for Tots collected over 4,000 trees and raised more than $97,000 in support of local children and youth.
Tree registration ends on Jan. 3, 2023, and the trees will be collected on Jan. 7.
To register, go to treesfortots.ca.
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