Reason for the season: Where you can help those in need during the holidays
There are so many worthy organizations doing wonderful work for the vulnerable in our community. Giving Tuesday is a great time to kick off – or ramp up – your charitable giving this Christmas season!
Christmas means so much to so many. It’s a time of miracles, celebration, togetherness and wonder. But for many children, families, adults and seniors, it’sa time of stress, dismay, loneliness and disappointment.
You can make sure every child, family, adult and senior feels the joy and magic of the season this year.
Giving Tuesday is a great reminder of the true reason for the season – giving back and helping those less fortunate. Many local organizations depend on what they raise at the end of the year to support their work for another year. Every dollar truly matters with so many in our community living on the edge of poverty, homelessness and hunger, battling addictions and mental health challenges, and combatting the effects of isolation or exclusion.
While monetary donations are always welcome, many local organizations are also seeking volunteers or essential items at this time of year.
According to CanadaHelps, for the 11th year running, the number of Canadians making charitable donations has declined. Financial strain and inflation certainly have an impact but this decline is critical because while the number of people donating has fallen, the number of people seeking help from charities has soared. One in five Canadians are using charitable services to meet essential needs.
We know this is certainly true in our city and region.
Now is the perfect time to bring together family, friends, or coworkers to support an organization that is helping local people have a brighter holiday season. What better way is there to live the mantra that it’s better to give than to receive?
Here is an alphabetical list of organizations – by no means definitive – undertaking holiday campaigns that will be grateful for your support.
Catholic Children’s Aid Society of Hamilton
735 King St. E., Hamilton
Guided by Catholic values and teachings, the Catholic Children’s Aid Society of Hamilton offers bilingual services to children, youth, and families within the Hamilton community to protect their safety and well-being, strengthen families, and nurture lifelong relationships.
How you can help: This holiday season, you can Give the Gift of Joy to support families that often struggle to put food on the table. Specifically, your donation will help: youth lead independent lives through education and stable housing; support families with the essentials needed for children in their care; and address food insecurity for the families in CCASH care. Your donation will be matched by the Diocese of Hamilton and has the power to bring hope, healing, and brighter futures. The Give the Gift of Joy campaign runs until Dec. 31.
CHCH Toy Drive
CHCH’s Christmas toy drive will make the holidays bright for families and individuals in Hamilton, Burlington, Brant and Niagara. The campaign runs until Dec. 20 and you can donate a new, unwrapped gift to one a number of locations in the region. Or consider making a monetary donation, via e-transfer to toydrive@chch.com, or by making a deposit at any branch of FirstOntario Credit Union.
CityKidz Hamilton
601 Burlington St. E., Unit A, Hamilton
CityKidz was founded on a big dream to see a future free of child poverty; a future where all children have equal opportunity to thrive and achieve their full potential. Through faith, hope and love, we seek to transform lives and end child poverty, one child at a time. The organization’s big dream is that one day, in the not-so-distant future, we will see an end to child poverty in Canada and every child will have equal opportunity to thrive, to dream big and to reach their full potential.
What started in Hamilton in 1990 as a weekend drop-in session for a few dozen kids has grown into multiple programs serving thousands of children and youth of all ages. CityKidz programs are a stable force of love and support for kids from before they can read until well after they’ve written their final high school exams. CityKidz teach our kids that they matter, that they are loved, and that they can change their future – and with it, the world.
How you can help: You can make wishes come true during the holiday season by donating a new unwrapped toy for children up to 12 or by harnessing your friends, family, neighbours and co-workers and hosting a toy drive. The CityKidz Toy Drive runs until Dec. 13 at 6 p.m. Book a drop-off time or find the list of drop-off locations across the city.
You can also make a monetary donation. For $50, you can brighten one child’s Christmas with a thoughtfully selected, carefully wrapped and personally delivered gift, an invitation to attend a CityKidz Christmas party, and a tasty Christmas lunch at a CityKidz Saturday program.
City of Hamilton: Toys for Tickets
The City of Hamilton is introducing a pilot program, Toys for Tickets, that gives residents a chance to settle parking fines with toy donations this holiday season. Anyone with a City-issued parking ticket payable from Dec. 2 to 6 can resolve it by donating a new, unwrapped toy of equal or greater value.
All donations will go directly to the United Way Halton and Hamilton – the City’s charity of choice for over 50 years – to support local families and bring holiday cheer to children in need. Toys must be new, unwrapped, and in their original packaging. A receipt confirming the toy’s value must accompany each donation.
Donations will be accepted in person at the Hamilton Municipal Parking System Office, 80 Main St. W. (at Summers Lane) from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. from Dec. 2 to Dec. 6. Note that only City of Hamilton-issued parking tickets are eligible for this program. Other types of fines (such as speeding or red-light camera violations) are not eligible.
Good Shepherd
400 King St. W., Hamilton
Good Shepherd services include emergency food and clothing, daily hot meals, emergency shelters, transitional housing and education for homeless and street-involved youth, hospice palliative care, and community mental health programs.
How you can help: There are a number of holiday programs underway. The Good Shepherd Christmas Marketplace runs until Dec. 24. Approximately 4,400 households will visit the Christmas Marketplace this year, a 15 per cent increase from 3,757 households in 2023. They will be able to assemble a hamper, including toys, stocking stuffers, gifts for youth, winter clothing and food for daily living and a Christmas dinner.
Donations of food (staples, non-perishables, meat and root vegetables are needed), clothing and household items can be dropped off at the Good Shepherd Venture Centre at 155 Cannon St. E., Hamilton. Regular donation drop-off hours are from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday to Friday.
You can ensure local individuals and families won’t go hungry this season, by participating in Good Shepherd’s Christmas food drive. Call 905-972-9485 x2566 to find out how you can help or you can even make donations by shopping in a virtual store.
Consider spreading joy by sponsoring a local family, adult, senior or youth. You can choose the individual or family you’d like to support and you’ll be taken to a page that includes a detailed wish list. You can choose to buy the (new and unwrapped) items yourself and drop them off or you can make a financial donation that will be used to spread holiday cheer to more than 135 individuals and families in need of help this Christmas.
Dates and times for delivering your gifts: Saturday, Dec. 7, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and Tuesday, Dec. 10, 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Drop-off location: Good Shepherd Family Centre, 143 Wentworth St. S., Hamilton.
Good Shepherd’s Annual Holiday Celebration takes place at the Hamilton Convention Centre (1 Summers Lane, Hamilton) on Sunday, Dec. 15. This event is open to the public and doors open at 11 a.m. Guests will enjoy a festive meal, kids’ playground, meet with Santa Claus, live entertainment and everyone gets a gift. Meals will be served from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. There is no registration needed for this event.
Hamilton Child and Family Supports
26 Arrowsmith Rd., Hamilton
Formerly known as Hamilton Children’s Aid Society, Hamilton Child and Family Supports was established in 1894 as a not-for-profit charitable organization focusing on the well-being and protection of children. The organization is mandated under Ontario’s Child, Youth and Family Services Act and, as such, is required by law to protect children from physical, sexual and emotional abuse, and harm. It is funded by the Ontario government, through the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services and is one of 47 children’s aid societies and Indigenous Child and Family Well-Being Agencies across Ontario.
How you can help: The Grateful Hearts program serves families of diverse faiths and traditions. Funds raised will be used to purchase gift cards. These gift cards are given to referred families, empowering them to make their own purchases based on their own needs. Possible purchases include: groceries, children’s gifts/toys, treats, and games. This program accepts donations all year round and provides support to families during holidays like Christmas, Ramadan and Eid.
Hamilton Food Share
339 Barton Street, Stoney Creek
Operating since 1990, Hamilton Food Share is the emergency food shipping and receiving hub and emergency food systems coordinator for a network of agencies in Hamilton. HFS provides industrial-scale food resources to hunger relief agencies, operating emergency food programs open to the public. The food is equitably delivered to food banks and meal programs to ensure that people living in poverty have access to healthy food for themselves and their families.
HFS puts a greater emphasis on nutritious food, greatly increasing its capacity to receive, store, and distribute fresh/frozen food items, ensuring that all families who rely on emergency food programs have access to a variety of food options. Most of the food distributed is donated by the generous local food industry, including wholesalers and farmers. Some is purchased in bulk at deep discounts and the remainder comes from community food drives by local groups or from special events.
How you can help: The holidays are an important time to reflect on the fact that 17,600 Hamiltonians, including 6,000 children, access food banks and meal program services each month. HFS provides more than 4.6 million pounds of nutritionally rich food to 16 member agencies, operating 22 food banks and hot meal programs. A donation to HFS helps ensure that no child, senior, or family has to spend the holidays hungry. Each $1 donated provides $5 in food. Other ways to help: organize a food drive, volunteer to sort or pack food, or directly donate food.
If you’re attending A Christmas Story, The Musical at Theatre Aquarius, you can purchase 50/50 tickets at the theatre or online, the proceeds of which will support both HFS and the work of Theatre Aquarius.
Living Rock Ministries
30 Wilson St., Hamilton
For 39 years, Living Rock Ministries has been a vital resource for youth in Hamilton, responding to over 22,000 visits last year alone. Living Rock serves one of the city's most vulnerable populations: young people aged 13-25 facing challenges such as family loss, poverty, substance misuse, and mental health issues.
Living Rock reaches youth who are homeless, living rough and experiencing poverty. Christmas is a difficult time of the year for many of the youth who access Living Rock.
Living Rock provides essential needs like food, clothing, and shelter through a comprehensive range of programs and services, while also providing crisis supports, recreational programs, housing supports, and opportunities for personal growth, life skills development, and employment training.
How you can help: Living Rock is putting together 500 gift and food bags for the youth it serves, while also offering opportunities for youth and their children to participate in a wide variety of Christmas celebrations, including meals, crafts, gingerbread houses, and special treats such as hot chocolate and whipped cream, throughout the month of December. A Christmas wish list is here.
Mission Services of Hamilton
196 Wentworth St. N., Hamilton
Mission Services is on a mission to end poverty and create safe places to learn, heal and grow. The multi-sector, social service agency believes every person deserves access to healthy food, safe housing, and opportunities for tomorrow. The non-profit serves more than 20,000 people each year.
How you can help: Donate directly to sponsor a family or individual in need. That could include someone who may be in a new home, or no home, someone who has escaped violence and abuse, someone who may have lost work or can’t find new work, or someone simply struggling to make ends meet. Each gift includes a $50 grocery card and new clothing and/or gifts.
Salvation Army
80 Bay St. N., Hamilton
150 King St. W., Dundas
The Salvation Army is an international Christian organization that began its work in Canada in 1882 and has grown to become one of the largest non-governmental direct providers of social services in the country. The Salvation Army gives hope and support to vulnerable people today and every day in 400 communities across Canada and more than 130 countries around the world. The Salvation Army Hamilton & Community Services offers practical assistance for children and families, often tending to the basic necessities of life, and practical support for people in crisis.
How you can help: The Salvation Army Community & Family Services provides Christmas Food and Toy Hampers for families and individuals in need in the Greater Hamilton area. Support that work by dropping some money in a Salvation Army Christmas kettle or donate directly through the website.
St. Matthew’s House
414 Barton St. E., Hamilton
St. Matthew's House supports those in the Hamilton community through childcare services, seniors support, and mental health and street outreach. It works to build trusting relationships that assist individuals who are experiencing homelessness to connect or reconnect with community services and supports.
How you can help: Holiday Hope (previously called Adopt-A-Family) matches low-income families and seniors within the Hamilton area with individuals, families, or groups looking to spread holiday cheer. There are several ways to help.
You can adopt a specific family or senior and St. Matthew’s House will provide you with their specific wish list. You’ll have the fun of purchasing gifts, boxing them and dropping them off ready to distribute. The estimated cost to adopt a family with two children is about $350, including roughly $100 per child for clothing and toys plus $150 for the grocery gift card for the family’s holiday meal. To sponsor a senior, we suggest about $125 including a $50 grocery gift card and $75 for a gift and clothing.
You can also help by donating a variety of gift cards, making a monetary donation, dropping off new clothing or toys. This method helps ensure that all families and seniors get sponsored, especially last-minute emergency appointments. Last year, everyone who asked for help, got it.
Any clothing, toys, gift cards, other items or monetary donations left at the end of the season benefit vulnerable, at-risk seniors who need assistance with housing, food security, isolation or who are in crisis.
United Way Halton & Hamilton
United Way Halton & Hamilton has a profound impact on the community by ensuring an essential network of programs and services work together to achieve lasting, positive change. Outside of government, United Way is the largest funder of social service programs and initiatives in Canada.
United Way’s Holiday Helping Hand program is a jolly way to give back and bring a dash of joy to those who need it most. Whether it’s crafting handmade decorations in support of a local agency, adopting a family in need, or donating to a gift drive, taking part in the Holiday Helping Hand program makes the days merry and bright.
There are a number of ways to support the Holiday Helping Hand campaign, which supports a long list of community organizations and clients in need of holiday sponsorship. The registration deadline for adopt-a-family and gift drive is Dec. 6. All adopt-a-family and gift drive items must be dropped off to the UWHH Community Donation Warehouse in Burlington on Dec. 11 and Dec. 12, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Additional details will be provided with registration confirmation. The suggested spending amount is $100-$150 per family member.
Wesley
467 Main St. E., Hamilton
Wesley offers support to people experiencing poverty, homelessness, and barriers in the community. The long-term impacts of Wesley’s programs include improved education, successful employment, sustained housing and supportive independence.
How you can help: A 60-plus year tradition, Wesley’s Holiday Drive provides gift cards and much-needed items to adults, children and families. Your support could be a family’s greatest gift this year. You can also support Wesley by making a donation, committing to a legacy or planned gift, or supporting the winter coat drive. Volunteers are encouraged to organize donation drives within their neighbourhood, family or group for items needed by Wesley clients and programs.
The most-needed items are: financial donations to Wesley to support programs and services; $25 gift cards to Walmart, grocery stores (Food Basics, No Frills, PC stores), Dollarama, Giant Tiger; clothing, such as new gloves, underwear, socks, robes and slippers for adults and children; linens, including new sheets and blankets for queen and double beds and towels; kitchen items, such as new microwaves, toasters, toaster ovens, blenders, air fryers; and boxes of chocolates.
Items can be dropped off at 467 Main St. E., Hamilton on Sunday, Dec. 8 and 15 from noon to 3 p.m. and Monday, Dec. 9 to Friday, Dec. 13, from 10 a.m. to noon.
In order to ensure all our clients have a joyous holiday season, Wesley also is offering sponsorships to support specific programs including: Wesley youth housing (19 clients); Wesley supportive housing (6 clients); special care unit (13+); and youth centres (20-30 youth per day). You can donate gifts (gift items, gift cards, treats) for the holiday season. If you would like more information about how to sponsor a program, including receiving a list of client specific items, please contact giving@wesley.ca or call 905-528-5629 x203 for further details.
If you’d like your non-profit’s holiday campaign to be added to this listing, please contact HCM editor Meredith MacLeod at meredith@hamiltoncitymagazine.ca.
