‘I feel loved’: Over 2,000 families helped by Edmonton’s Holiday Hamper program

Santa’s elves were hard at work at the Edmonton Expo Centre Saturday, helping to make Christmas a bit brighter for thousands of families in need.

Elves could be seen receiving food hampers filled to the brim with fresh produce, turkey, and fish before delivering them to more than 2,000 families across the city.

“It makes me feel loved, makes me feel happy that there people out there who care about the people struggling,” said Judy MacDonald, who received a holiday hamper.

MacDonald says the holiday hamper program has been supporting her family for more than five years. She says Christmas wouldn’t have been as warm without these food hampers.

“The holiday hamper program has been a blessing. When we lost my husband, they were super fabulous helping out with groceries and stuff. It’s an amazing opportunity,” she explained.

The holiday hamper program is entirely run by a group of volunteers. In addition to 150 volunteers, almost 1,600 community members, referred to as elves, were part of this year’s initiative.

“I just really like the idea of the personal touch of actually meeting the families we’re helping. A lot of time you get to do things to help but you don’t see the end,” said Sunita Roed, a holiday hamper elf.

Roed and her kids have been volunteering with the program for two years in a row.

“I like to see just how happy people are to get stuff. It feels really good to get to help other people,” said Erik, Sunita’s son.

Holiday Hampers has delivered about 2,200 hampers this year, the highest number in its 21 years of operation.

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“With the rising cost and inflation, we are seeing the need grow year over year and we’ve able to keep up with some incredible elves who come back year over year and new elves who decide to participate,” said Megan Normandeau, with the Holiday Hamper Foundation.

Alecia Erickson, a holiday hamper elf, said, “So many people need so much help because the cost of living is going up so much, and especially groceries, like it’s significant.”

More than 25,000 lbs of frozen turkey, 5,000 lbs of frozen fish, and 50,000 lbs of fresh produce have been raised with the community support from local businesses, farmers, and producers.