CHRISTMAS FUND RETURNS

Your donations will help families for a 50th year

This is a special year for the Montreal Gazette Christmas Fund. The launch of our annual fundraising campaign Saturday marks the 50th anniversary of the fund. Over the last half-century, our readers have contributed almost $27 million to help our less fortunate neighbours.

Once again, like my predecessors, I am asking you to help us spread a little joy at the darkest time of the year.

Last year, with the help of 150 community partners — organizations like the Old Brewery Mission, Sun Youth and the Saint Vincent de Paul Society — we provided $125 cheques to about 8,000 needy families.

It happens because of you. Individual readers represent the bulk of our donors. Last year, the smallest donation was $3, from an anonymous donor. The largest were three donations of $10,000 from Inflight Canada, a regular contributor to the fund, a foundation and an estate.

Already this year, I have heard from the organizers of the “friendly” curling match between the Royal Montreal and Pointe-Claire curling clubs, who joust every year for the Art MacDonald Trophy. For the last 10 years, they having been raising money for the Christmas Fund. They curled Friday night and raised about $2,000, political columnist L. Ian MacDonald told me.

That makes a total of almost $20,000 that they have raised over the last decade. The reason this is their charity of choice: The Gazette covers the entire cost of administering the fund, so every dollar goes directly to the needy, MacDonald said.

What does a $125 cheque mean to the recipients? I talked to Sister Dianna Lieffers of St. Gabriel parish in Pointe-St-Charles, one of our community partners.

Lieffers said in a rapidly gentrifying neighbourhood like the Point, people are having a harder and harder time finding affordable housing. That’s why some in her parish use the cheques to pay off the last portion of their rent in December.

“In addition, many people we deal with have mental challenges, so they don’t have the skills to cook for themselves,” she said. “The money can mean a meal at a restaurant or some warm clothing.

“For us, $125 might not sound like a lot, but it is gold to them.”

In the coming weeks our reporters will tell you more about some of the people being helped by the Christmas Fund.

Thank you in advance for your generosity.