Phenomenal response to The Gift CK

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Thousands of volunteers rallied across Chatham-Kent on Saturday to make something special happen again to benefit those in need.

“You have to feel it to believe it,” said Brent Wilken, a main organizer of The Gift C-K. The event involved more than 3,000 volunteers who collected, unloaded and sorted a mountain of donated food and toys.

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“I don’t know how to describe the look and the feeling of these people that have been (participating),” he added.

Wilken, who was among the core group that organized the May 16 Miracle that collected nearly 680,000 pounds food, said there’s a different feel to The Gift.

“It’s another step towards togetherness,” he said.

Noting this event involved working with several organizations, he said, “This has gone a little deeper into our hearts, we have taken care of each other even a little more.”

People of all ages were helping out on Saturday.

Julia Snelgrove, 13, was helping collect donations from porches in Chatham, because she wants to make sure everyone has a good Christmas.

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“It just sucks that some people can’t afford a Christmas I can have,” she said.

Julia said volunteering for The Gift “just warms my heart, because, I realize I’m helping many people.”

Her grandmother, Myrna Panjer, who was driving, said, “It’s a wonderful opportunity to be able to help others a family.”

Mindy Bowls, who was also collecting donations with Julia and Myrna on Sunnyside Avenue in Chatham, said, “It’s great that it’s a community-wide thing so everybody can participate.”

She added the event is great for people who want to get involved by volunteering and those who want to donate to the cause.

Matthew Parry volunteered as a community captain in charge of collecting donations from retailers, including Canadian Tire, Real Canadian Superstore, No Frills, Sobeys and Walmart.

He was impressed with how quickly the donations were coming in, noting there were already full skids of donations at Walmart before the volunteers began to arrive.

Parry recently moved from Niagara Falls to Chatham and decided to get involved. And he said he’s pleased he did.

“It’s a magical experience, it’s amazing to see everyone come together and I definitely wanted to be a part of that,” Parry said.

Nicole Papps and her son, Phoenix, 14, decided to help out with The Gift, after volunteering for the May 16 Miracle.

“The community support has been amazing,” said Papps as she delivered a fourth load of donations at the Richmond Street drop off site in Chatham.

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She was returning to the Chatham Canadian Tire store to pick up another load of donations.

“It is pretty fun going around seeing a whole bunch of stuff,” said Phoenix.

“It’s actually pretty impressive, all the gifts,” he added.

Bonnie Lewsaw has been heavily involved with The Gift and the May 16 Miracle.

She ran the ‘sign factory’ for a few weeks, where volunteers created and distributed hundreds of signs around Chatham-Kent to promote The Gift.

She also served as volunteer co-ordinator for Chatham, which included 40 teams of volunteers, before being in charge of accepting donations at the Bradley Convention Centre on Saturday.

“It’s going really well and we’ve even started to sort with the tremendous help that we’ve got,” Lewsaw said.

“This is phenomenal … it’s tremendous support from the community, again.”

Noting she loves being involved in this kind of community event, Lewsaw said her motto is: “Bring it on.”

The donations of food and toys will be organized for distribution through the various groups that run Christmas campaigns, such as the Chatham Goodfellows and Salvation Army.

But Wilken said the goal is for residents those find those people are need, but are reluctant to ask for help.

He said a trusted family member or friend can come to The Gift on their behalf to get the help a family many need.

“There’s something truly remarkable that’s going to happen when more people are found than ever,” Wilken said.