It was a record high year for the annual Snowflake Station campaign, a program that helps ensure every child has something under the tree at Christmas.
What Kids Need Moncton Inc Founder Amanda Pooley says they provided for 1207 kids this year.
“I think when I first started doing this, I was shocked with the rising numbers, but now that we have been doing it for ten years, we expect that our numbers will be a little higher every year. Sadly, that is the reality.”
She says that the highest number in ten years of their program, “A lot of people are struggling and the situation doesn’t appear to be getting any better. Rent prices are high, grocery prices are high.”
Pooley says they had a lot of babies this year, and new parents wanted to make sure they had presents for them.
“We have a lot of newcomers that this is their first time in Canada. Families that have always done well in the past, but this year they are struggling. It might be unemployment or illness. They might have been laid off due to COVID,” Pooley says.
The campaign is wrapping up for the season, but Pooley says they have a lot of gently used items left, if there is a family that might have been missed, “We have never turned a family away in all of the years we have been doing this. The reality is, there may be families that didn’t know about us or maybe they had all of their presents bought and they had a flood or a fire or their house got broken into. Life is unpredictable. All they need to do is reach out to us. We will have a look at what items we have left and we will do our best to ensure they get something.”
What Kids Need Moncton Inc will be open today for an open house for those who would like to pick a few items for their families, “All of the leftover gently used items. We have hats, books games, toys, baby equipment. Anything that is gently used will be out for the open house and families can come in and take what they need.”
