The elves for the Christmas Hope campaign have been busy and are recruiting the help of Lethbridge Police Service for the 4th Annual Charity Checkstop.
The donations of toys, money and non-perishable food items will be collected on Saturday, Dec. 2 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Park Place Mall’s west parking lot, located by the old Sears
“We believe that illuminating Christmas spirit is more important than ever for our children and families in Lethbridge who need assistance,” says Michelle Gallucci, Director of Advancement & Communications with Lethbridge Family Services and a member of Christmas Hope. “This is our time to shine, and we can do that with Charity Checkstop. This is an exciting shared community experience of kindness.”
Christmas Hope helps to coordinate donations to the Interfaith Food Bank, the Lethbridge Food Bank, LFS Angel Tree, Shop of Wonders, Toys for Tots and more. This helps to eliminate any doubles so that everyone in the community receives what they need during the holidays.
Cst. Brooklyn Peterson with LPS, who is also one of the event organizers, says “Lethbridge is such a generous community and I really think that our new location beside Park Place Mall will make it even more convenient for people to come and donate, especially when they’re already coming to do their own Christmas Shopping.”
“We had just over 1,300 gifts last year, so this year we’re hoping to get 2,500,” adds Peterson.
According to Gallucci, coming into December, almost 4,000 children are registered for Angel Tree and around Shop of Wonders is going to get around 3,000.
“We’re giving now to double income families who are barely making it, we don’t want people to find Christmas stressful, we want to give hope and imagination to the children, we want them to dream, and we want them to dream big,” says Gallucci.
Community members looking for what is a big commodity for children this year, Gallucci mentions that dolls have been in big demand, things for 0 to 24 months, along with legos and science kits.
The Charity Checkstop runs from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 2 at Park Place Mall.