The need for Christmas hampers at the southeasternmost point of our province is slightly higher than usual this season.

In Vita, Christmas Cheer Board Chair Jane Roman says they assembled 33 hampers of food and toys, a total that is up by eight from last year. While the hampers would normally be distributed in-person from volunteer to recipient, Roman says COVID-19 forced them to do a contactless pickup at Vita Bible Church instead.

Jason Sylvester who helps run the hamper initiative out in Piney, says his rural municipality required 46 hampers this year, a number that is also higher than usual.Christmas hamper donations from a previous holiday season

“I would think that is directly because of COVID,” he states, referring to potential job losses and other hardships brought about by the pandemic.

Like in Vita, Sylvester says Piney’s charitable program needed to be changed to remain in line with government restrictions. Rather than collecting food items from local residents, as they have done in the past, Sylvester and his team asked for monetary donations. With those funds, they went out and bought the groceries themselves, ensuring the items were purchased and packed as safely as possible.

In the Franklin region, COVID-19 precautions surrounding the local hamper program were taken to still a greater extreme. Back in October, Linda Steinert says her committee recognized the rising threat of the virus and made the decision to purchase food vouchers from their local stores rather than have volunteers physically assembling the hampers. Those vouchers were mailed out to their respective recipients earlier this month.

“It was so simple that we almost didn’t feel like we were doing anything,” notes Steinert “but now they can have the fun of going shopping without spending their own money, and I know a few people appreciated that.”

Ordinarily, Steinert says she gets a lot of joy out of helping people, and that was true of this year too, even though she could not speak with or smile at the hamper recipients.

“This is our Christmas gift to other people and to me,” she laughs. “It is a Christmas gift to myself because it is just a wonderful feeling that you get when you can help other people.”

16 families in Franklin applied to the hamper program this year which Steinert says is about average.

Individuals and families in both Vita and Franklin have already benefited from the community’s respective programs, meanwhile, the hampers in Piney are being distributed today.

While their delivery methods may have looked different this year because of the pandemic, all three organizations say their message remains the same: they want everyone to feel cared for this holiday season.