“It is a serious problem in Canada that negatively impacts physical, mental, and social health, and costs our healthcare system considerably. 1 in 8 households in Canada is food insecure, amounting to over 4 million Canadians, including 1.15 million children, living in homes that struggle to put food on the table.” Proof – Food Insecurity Policy Research, 2018
In 2017, staff at Twillingate New World Island Dinner Theatre and Waterside Fish Market began the Christmas Hamper project as a way to raise funds to feed families in need during a most vulnerable time of the year. Each year, 50/50 tickets are sold, and donations collected, to ensure that no family in need is left out. So far, we have delivered more than four hundred hampers filled with groceries and household necessities to families all throughout our beautiful region. Again, this year, that need will be even greater.
As a result of Covid-19, many people have not been able to work and earn a good living. Many have had to turn to CERB and other avenues to make ends meet. This Christmas promises to be a difficult one for many families in our region who are already struggling to make ends meet. Another problem, caused by Covid-19 restrictions, is that we have not been able to access printed tickets (though we hope to be able to in the near future). In 2020 we were able to open in mid-July and we ran for twelve weeks. In that time, we were able to raise approximately $27,000 and in mid-December, delivered 106 hampers to struggling families and shut-ins in our region.
In 2021, Covid-19 was still rampant and our organization faced similar challenges to those in the previous year. Still, more and more people were in need of food assistance. Between donations collected at the theatre and fish market, as well as those made by friends and neighbours, were were able to deliver another 120 hampers to families throughout our community and region.
In 2022, we established The Twillingate New World Island Christmas Hamper Program Inc., a charity that will raise and administer funds for the delivery of hampers to families in need each year around Christmas.
Thank you, to everyone who has and continue to support our project.
If you wish to make a donation to the Christmas Hamper Project, you can email the funds directly to:
christmashamperprojectnl@gmail.com
If you wish to obtain a receipt, please mention it in your email with your address.
On behalf of our staff and the people in our region, thank you for your support.
2019
This past year was a stellar one for our Christmas Hamper fundraiser. Over the course of seventeen weeks, Twillingate – New World Island Dinner Theatre and Waterside Fish Market, with the help of several community volunteers, sold $50,000 in fifty-fifty tickets and collected almost $15,000 in raw donations, making 2019 the most successful year yet for the hamper project. On September 22, following the end of our final show for the season, the winning ticket was drawn. Arlene Elliott of Grand Falls-Windsor, NL, won the $25,000 and dropped by some weeks later to collect her check. In mid December, a number of staff and community volunteers gathered at the theatre to assemble and deliver some 160+ hampers to homes throughout the region. On behalf of all of us at Twillingate – New World Island Dinner Theatre and Waterside Fish Market, we thank those who purchased tickets, gave donations, sold tickets, collected food items, and volunteered their time to fill and deliver hampers again this year.