CFAX Santas Anonymous donation helps feed families and send kids to camp
VICTORIA – A donation of more than $21,000 to the Burnside Gorge Community Association will help support families make ends meet and send 30 kids to camp this summer.
The community association will put $14,622 of the donation towards a food hamper program for neighbourhood families. The program supports 50 families with fresh fruit and vegetables during the late spring and early summer months.
“It is a weekly lifesaver,” said Burnside Gorge Community Association executive director Suzanne Cole. “For that short period of time in their year, they don’t have to worry where their fruit and vegetables are coming from.”
Staff with the community group will also be providing children’s snack bags for 50 families who receive support from the food program. Cole says it supports families when their children are home during the summer.
Staff say in the past year the cost of food has risen eight percent, and many low income families are feeling the strain.
“We’re helping relieve a little bit of stress in a time where finances can be really tight,” said Cole. “Families are still recovering from the winter, so high utility bills that they are still paying off, and it’s just one thing on top of another that creates a lot of barriers.”
Cole says $7,000 of the Santas Anonymous donation will allow 30 young people to participate in the community association’s Camp Survivor program. The summer camp program gives kids aged 10 to 14 a chance to experience outdoor activities, like zip lining and kayaking, by subsidizing the fees associated with the activity.
“I think in today’s day and age when kids are tied to their phones or isolated at home, it gives them an opportunity to get out in nature and be active,” said Cole. “Santas Anonymous provides us with 30 subsidies for camp and a little extra money for food, so we always have healthy snacks for kids who might not come with enough food.”
Cole says CFAX Santas Anonymous has provided financial support to the Camp Survivor program for more than 15 years. She says this is the third year the children’s charity has provided funding for the food program.
Staff with CFAX Santas Anonymous say fundraising activities, like the Miracle on Broad Street and Al’s 21 for 21, are a key part to helping fund donations to groups like the Burnside Gorge Community Association.
“It’s our community that steps up to make this donation happen,” said CFAX Santas Anonymous executive director Christine Hewitt. “Our board of directors looks at where the greatest need, is and this is one of the greatest needs.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Widow looking for answers after Quebec man dies in Texas Ironman competition
The widow of a Quebec man who died competing in an Ironman competition is looking for answers.
Tom Mulcair: Park littered with trash after 'pilot project' is perfect symbol of Trudeau governance
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says that what's happening now in a trash-littered federal park in Quebec is a perfect metaphor for how the Trudeau government runs things.
World seeing near breakdown of international law amid wars in Gaza and Ukraine, Amnesty says
The world is seeing a near breakdown of international law amid flagrant rule-breaking in Gaza and Ukraine, multiplying armed conflicts, the rise of authoritarianism and huge rights violations in Sudan, Ethiopia and Myanmar, Amnesty International warned Wednesday as it published its annual report.
Photographer alleges he was forced to watch Megan Thee Stallion have sex and was unfairly fired
A photographer who worked for Megan Thee Stallion said in a lawsuit filed Tuesday that he was forced to watch her have sex, was unfairly fired soon after and was abused as her employee.
Amid concerns over 'collateral damage' Trudeau, Freeland defend capital gains tax change
Facing pushback from physicians and businesspeople over the coming increase to the capital gains inclusion rate, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his deputy Chrystia Freeland are standing by their plan to target Canada's highest earners.
U.S. Senate passes bill forcing TikTok's parent company to sell or face ban, sends to Biden for signature
The Senate passed legislation Tuesday that would force TikTok's China-based parent company to sell the social media platform under the threat of a ban, a contentious move by U.S. lawmakers that's expected to face legal challenges.
Wildfire southwest of Peace River spurs evacuation order
People living near a wildfire burning about 15 kilometres southwest of Peace River are being told to evacuate their homes.
U.S. Senate overwhelmingly passes aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan with big bipartisan vote
The U.S. Senate has passed US$95 billion in war aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, sending the legislation to President Joe Biden after months of delays and contentious debate over how involved the United States should be in foreign wars.
'My stomach dropped': Winnipeg man speaks out after being criminally harassed following single online date
A Winnipeg man said a single date gone wrong led to years of criminal harassment, false arrests, stress and depression.