A pandemic isn’t going to stop The Salvation Army from helping families during the holidays.
This year, the organization has adapted their Christmas toy and food hampers and Christmas kettle program to maintain safety protocols to limit individual exposure while still supporting those in need across Guelph and Wellington County.
“Our number one priority this year is the health and well being of those that we serve and our volunteers and staff who run the programs.” says Peter van Duinen, major corps officer and pastor at The Salvation Army.
Starting this week, families will be able to register for the Christmas toy and food hamper program. Instead of a physical food hamper, The Salvation Army will be handing out grocery gift cards in five locations across the city.
"If you live in a particular corner of the city, then you'll have a located hamper spot to go to so they'll have a shorter distance to travel to." says van Duinen
On the day of pick up, residents will need to sign in digitally through a computer, which will be supplied by a recycling electronics organization. Volunteers will be on the scene to help residents with registration. All social distancing protocols will be in place for this part of the program.
All qualifying families – including those with kids - will receive gift cards this year at the point of registration in lieu of physical food hampers.
“We’re trying to create fewer points of contact for people as much as possible.” says van Duinen.
“So going with a gift card option in lieu of a physical food hamper has cut down on the number of times people that we serve have to come back and be congregated with other people."
Besides reducing the number of people returning for hampers, he adds gift cards also help The Salvation Army reduce the number of volunteers gathering in one place, and create more space at The Salvation Army's Gordon Street home for physical distancing.
A separate drive-thru event to distribute toy hampers will be held at The Salvation Army at a later date.
"By moving to a drive-thru toy distribution, we're limiting those points of contact with people outside of their household. We're doing everything we can to minimize their risk of coming into contact with COVID." he says.
The value of the gift card is different depending on the type of family in need. For single families or families of two, they will receive $50 gift cards, whereas larger families will be given a $100 gift card or more depending on the size of the family.
While gift cards are a safer option during COVID, van Duinen says they cost more, and this has put them $41,000 over budget.
However, he adds they are more concerned about safety than cost.
“We understand it's COVID, so we have to make sure that safety is at the top of the list." says van Duinen, "The health and well-being of those we serve, and our staff and volunteers.”
To learn more about pick up dates for the food hamper program, click here.
For the Christmas Kettle program, The Salvation Army will be operating 13 locations across Guelph and one in Fergus, with all locations offering contactless payment options. The Salvation Army is also accepting donations online.
“Last year, we piloted four of our top kettle locations with the ability to tap debit or credit cards, ” says van Duinen, "This year, we're going to provide a contactless solution payment at every kettle in our campaign."
He adds they also plan to accept contactless payments through phone and smart watches for December.
Although the program has incorporated some digital elements to seek out younger people’s donations, van Duinen says they are also looking for volunteers to help fill some of the anticipated empty shifts to ring the bell.
“When we don't have somebody there jingling that little bell to get your attention as you're passing by, it means that a lot of people may simply pass by the stand and not stop and donate.” says van Duinen.
All volunteers will be given personal protective equipment, face masks, face shields and sanitizing equipment to wipe down the kettle. To learn more about volunteer opportunities, check out their website.
This year, The Salvation Army's fundraising goal for the holidays is $345,000 to help cover the cost of hampers, along with operating and running other programs year-round.
While government programs like CERB and EI benefits have been helping people so far during this pandemic, van Duinen says The Salvation Army is starting to see a rise in need for their services.
“The longer the pandemic goes on, the greater that increase is going to be." he says, “We're going to see more and more businesses struggling to re-open, which means they won't be re-hiring people who have been laid off temporarily."
"We and other social agencies within this community will likely begin to see greater increase in the post-Christmas time."
