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 surrounding area thanks to the generosity of this community. The need for Christmas Hampers grown, said Simons, due to an increase in population and inflation

“The cost of living is continually going up causing this problem… today’s wage is not sufficient to cover all the everyday expenses,” she shared. Christmas adds stress to families already living on a tight budget

So, from early November to mid December, a committee of nine members, backed by close to 100 community volunteers, work in stride to make sure everyone wakes up with a smile on Christmas morning The program is quite simple. Families in need apply for a community hamper. If approved, they show up at the fairgrounds on distribution day to pick up their hamper, which consists of all the fixings for a Christmas dinner, extra food to stock the pantry for the week and a few gifts for each child in the family

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