Fifth edition of LDWC Secret Santa Campaign underway

Between Nov. 5 and Dec.17, Townshippers have the opportunity to help fulfill the wishes of children and families in the community experiencing financial difficulties during the holiday season.

Since 2014, the Lennoxville and District Women’s Centre (LDWC) has been running the Secret Santa campaign, pairing sponsors with local children to fill Christmas wish lists, and collecting donations to shop for stocking stuffers and gifts for locals facing a difficult Christmas.

Since it started, The Record has been a partner and sponsor of the campaign.

One of the mandates of the local newspaper is to level the playing field in the community.

While the focus during the holiday season should always be about family and spending quality time together, there are homes struggling to put food on the table. In those situations, the luxury of a gift under the tree is out of the question.

January rolls around. The newest gadgets and goodies grace the halls of local schools as students return to class after break.

“What did you get for Christmas?” echoes in the halls.

A crisp, clean shirt; a new doll; a pair of headphones; a new pair of shoes; those things go a long way leveling the playing field among children.

There are two ways to participate in the Secret Santa Campaign: Option 1: Sponsor

You will receive and ID number along with the gender and age of a child (your preference will be considered), along with a list of items that the child has wished for. You may purchase one or many of the gifts from the wish list. The gifts should be labeled with the ID number, gender and age of the child and dropped off at the LDWC before Dec.13.

The gifts can be wrapped or brought in as is. A team of volunteers helps with any wrapping needs.

Option 2: Donate

If you don’t have time or don’t like to shop, make a donation to the centre, and volunteers will do the shopping.

Once the gifts are purchased and wrapped, boxes are prepared to send to the families.

For information on how to participate, contact the LDWC at 819-564-6626 or email info@ldwc.ca.

Donations can be sent to the LDWC office at 175 Queen Street, Suite 203, Sherbrooke, Qc J1M 1K1.

SUBMITTED BY LDWC Left to right - Melissa Gardner, Kathryne Owen, Kristen Dempsey wrapping up the Secret Santa gifts collected for the 2017 campaign.

MATTHEW MCCCULLY/RECORD ARCHIVES Volunteer Jo-anne Anderson, administrative assistant Kayla Dempsey and LDWC board president Louise Caron, wrapping gifts that will be distributed to the sponsor families before Christmas during the 2016 Secret Santa campaign.