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YOUR Independent Community Newspaper
Vol. 7 Edition 18
C-K’s next Miracle is a Gift
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Not a care in the world
Groups embark on massive toy and food drive for Chatham-Kent
By Bruce Corcoran bruce@chathamvoice.com
Chatham-Kent’s Miracle is morphing into a Gift, just in time for Christmas. In the wake of the highly successful May 16 Miracle -- where nearly 680,000 pounds of non-perishable food was collected across the municipality -- the focus is now on ensuring no one in Chatham-Kent goes without a Christmas this year. That means a great deal of teamwork will be required to kick the Grinch -- also known as COVID-19 this year -- to the curb. While the May 16 Miracle was largely led by volunteers, with input from local food bank personnel, the Gift is more of a tagteam effort, according to Lindsey Davidson, one of the organizers of the campaign. “We have organizations from across Chatham-Kent who have been involved doing (Christ-
mas) hampers for many, many years,” she said. That includes organizations such as the Chatham Goodfellows, who for decades have worked to ensure their motto, “No Child Without A Christmas,” is honoured. Scott Williston of Goodfellows said the need is great this year, thanks to COVID-19. “We’ve done the math and we think there are 30,000 people who will need help this Christmas in Chatham-Kent,” he said. “We don’t want to miss anybody this year.” Brent Wilken, a key organizer of the May 16 Miracle and a lead hand for the Gift, said the thought of the Christmas hamper groups joining forces with a strong C-K volunteer base is mind boggling. “It brings me to my knees when I think of the strength of the citizens and now these organizations. These organizations are experts.” Continued on page 2
Angela Pestowka/Special to The Voice
These sheep seem extremely happy at Great Lakes Stables near Thamesville. With the cooler weather upon us, their thick coats have them ready for what Mother Nature brings this fall.
FoG raises $177.5K
By Bruce Corcoran bruce@chathamvoice.com
Featuring cameo appearances from the likes of Gary Busey, Tommy Chong, Tom Arnold and Carole Baskin, this year’s Festival of Giving (FoG) entertained and raised funds from a distance on Saturday night. Mike Genge, executive director of the Children’s Treatment Centre Foun-
dation of Chatham-Kent, said despite all the changes and a six-month delay due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the effort raised $177,500. “I was surprised it got that high. With everything going on with COVID, we were wondering how people would respond,” he said. “But I think because of COVID, people are used to doing online shopping.”
For FoG, that meant people using the Internet to take part in an online auction. At previous FoG events, such an auction was silent, taking place at the Bradley Centre, with upwards of 1,000 people wandering through to check out all the items, as they gathered for a night of food, music, beverages and fundraising. This time around, it all took place from a dis-
tance. And Genge said he was amazed at the results. “The last hour (of the online auction), we made an additional $10,000. It’s really impressive. People were just going crazy,” he said. “We had some items that flipped by $500-$700, in a matter of minutes.” Genge said the live auction portion of the event was a challenge, but staff and volunteers rose to it. Continued on page 4
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