COMMUNITY NEWS

Far left, members of the Paris Red Hats donate their time to help sort food (left to right) Nancy Robinson, Sharon McCorkindale

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It takes hundreds of individuals close to five days of sorting, organizing and packing. If you need a reminder of the true meaning of the holidays, volunteer to help and you’ll be amazed at the efficiency and general feeling of compassion and spirit as people work in unison for one common goal: ensuring everyone has a Merry Christmas.

“The volunteers are amazing Paris has got to have the best group of volunteers, just look at everyone here,” said Marg Knill-Wilson during a brief chat on Monday evening. Marg might not agree with this statement, but it’s quite true. She’s partially responsible for the success of this program, helping to found it nearly 40 years ago. She can still remember the excitement that very first year, when they worked to fill between 50-60 hampers.

“The Lion’s Club really helped us out that year. Mike Zell and I packed up donations at the Willett Hospital board room,” she recalled “And for years I handled all the toys in the basement of my house,” she laughed at the memory of unloading a pickup truck full of toys at her home.

Looking around the room on Monday, Marg marvelled at the sheer volume and dedication of both the volunteers on hand but also the generosity of donations from the community.

“This is massive. It has grown immensely. More than quadrupled, I can’t believe it.”

Equally impressed was Shirley Simons, another founding member. She’s almost the name behind the program. Need to arrangement a donation, call Shirley! Want to volunteer your time, call Shirley! Want to sponsor a family, call Shirley!

“Paris is so overwhelmingly generous And not just Paris, the surrounding community. I just got a call today from the St. George Lions Club and they want to send a donation,” said Shirley.

Generosity is not scarce in this community and luckily so. As the community continues to grow so does the need. This year the Committee accepted the most applications ever – 172 and requests were still coming in as of the December 19th deadline Shirley was in disbelief at the number of children on the application list; and thankfully everyone will have a present or two to light up Christmas morning thanks to the County of Brant Fire Department whose volunteer firefighters collected over 900 toys through their annual initiative.

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