A Campbell River Mirror tradition – Pennies for Presents – is off to a flying start for the 16th Christmas season.
Mirror staffer Marianne Graham, who organizes the newspaper’s fundraising campaign, says more than $2,300 worth of pennies are already “in the bank.”
Last year the Mirror raised more than $6,800. As in years past, two of our carriers will go on a shopping spree and purchase a Santa-sized sack of presents for kids nine to 15 years old.
Those gifts will go into Campbell River Knights of Columbus Christmas Hampers.
Mirror Publisher Zena Williams says: “When the Mirror’s parent company, Black Press, launched Pennies for Presents in 1996 the Mirror decided that we didn’t want to duplicate the effort already being made in the community by the Knights of Columbus.
“The solution was simple. We decided to contribute the pennies towards buying presents for the Knights’ hampers. We’re proud to support the hamper fund each year and we’re proud of our readers who never cease to find jars of coins in their houses, drawers and closets and drop them off at the Mirror office.”
Many businesses also support the campaign by collecting coins or helping us out with the purchase of the presents.
“The Mirror staff thanks you all for your support and would like you to know that your contributions go directly toward making Christmas special for needy families in Campbell River,” Williams says.
Pennies for Presents contributors who go to the trouble of rolling their pennies prior to dropping them off get to put their names in a draw for a gift hamper from Quality Foods.
The Knights of Columbus invest many hours of volunteer work collecting, boxing and delivering the Christmas hampers. This year’s Hamper Fund is now accepting applications.
This is the 39th year that the Community Christmas Hamper Fund has been in existence. It is anticipated that approximately 1,200 hamper applications will be processed before the Dec. 11 deadline.
Application forms are available at the Campbell River Employment and Income Assistance Office located at 833A 14th Avenue. Delivery day for the hampers will be Saturday, Dec. 22.
