The Paris Independent
9
November 25, 2023
COMMUNITY NEWS Paris Christmas Hamper program is a community wide initiative that embodies the spirit of the holidays By Casandra Turnbull Perhaps you’ve heard of the Paris Community Christmas Hampers &Toy Drive? Food collections and toy collections are taking place across town – hosted by local schools, community groups, businesses and first responders – everyone wants to find a way to help this season. It’s undoubtedly a community-wide effort that embodies the true spirit of the holidays. If you’re new to town, or don’t really know much about the initiative, let us shed some light on how this program started, how its grown over the decades and how it is making an impact in the community. The exact origin of the Hampers is unknown, but it’s safe to say it dates back at least 30 years where the very first hampers were put together in Marg Knill-Wilson’s basement. Only a few residents received hampers at that time, recalls Shirley Simons. She’s current Chair of the Christmas Hampers Committee, a position she’s held since the very beginning. In fact, without Simons and few other founding members, including Marg, the program might not exist today. As the years marched on, the need continued to grow. It changed from a few hampers to dozens of hampers and eventually closed in on 100 hampers and then more. During this time, the committee was growing too, and an annual tradition was well established. Last year the committee distributed hampers to 156 families in Paris and
Paris Community Christmas Hamper & Toy Drive Committee members, left to right, Shirley Simons, Laura Bowlby and Cherish Gamble, helping sort food donations during the 2022 Campaign. Photo by Casandra Turnbull surrounding area thanks to the stride to make sure everyone generosity of this community. wakes up with a smile on The need for Christmas Hampers Christmas morning. The program grown, said Simons, due to an is quite simple. Families in need increase in population and apply for a community hamper. inflation. If approved, they show up at the “The cost of living is continually fairgrounds on distribution day to going up causing this problem… pick up their hamper, which today’s wage is not sufficient to consists of all the fixings for a cover all the everyday expenses,” Christmas dinner, extra food to she shared. Christmas adds stress stock the pantry for the week and to families already living on a a few gifts for each child in the tight budget. family. So, from early November to mid December, a committee of nine Continued on page 10 members, backed by close to 100 community volunteers, work in
