Salvation Army extends Christmas Hamper application deadline

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — The local Salvation Army extended the Christmas Hamper application deadline to the end of the week.

Fort St. John Salvation Army Executive Director Jared Braun says they didn’t meet the number of people they hoped to accommodate by the original deadline at the end of November.

“We knew we’d handed out a lot of applications; they just hadn’t been returned to us, so we just wanted to give people an opportunity to complete those applications and get them returned,” Braun said.

“We have seen that there is a high interest or a high need in people getting a little extra boost at Christmas this year, so we just wanted to make sure as many people as possible were given the opportunity to have a hamper provided for them.”

The new deadline for Christmas hamper applications is December 8th.

Braun says the Salvation Army is still accepting donations for the Christmas Hampers.  However, they are primarily looking for gifts for older children as several toy drives are happening in the city, including the Strait and Home Hardware Toy Drive.

“It’s kind of hard to tell what we’ll be needing because we haven’t collected from those, but most often, it’s the older age groups, kind of ten to teenagers, that are more challenging to fulfill,” Braun said.

In addition to the toy drives and the gifts for the older kids, the executive director says the ongoing financial contributions, particularly to the kettle campaign, are also appreciated.

“That helps us to do all the food and gift card purchases for the meal hampers that we’re providing,” Braun said.

Other ways Fort St. John residents can help is by volunteering, either to assist with the kettle campaign or to volunteer to help prepare the hampers.

Volunteers can sign up online or call the office at 250-7850506.