The true spirit of Christmas is found in the giving.
Yvon Poulin hands over some groceries to members of the Canadore College Men’s Varsity Volleyball team, set up outside Mike and Lori’s No Frills on McKeown Avenue Saturday afternoon.
The team was kept busy, packing the college’s Highlander with food for a large Christmas dinner at the Gathering Place.
“It feels good to give. I gave a large turkey, a bag of potatoes, cranberries and some Oh Henry bars. You need dessert you know,” chuckled Poulin.
“It is nice to give to people who don’t have much, especially at Christmas.”
People entering the store were handed a list of items by other team members, specifying what was needed for the dinner.
“We’ve put three logo’s, Mike and Lori’s No Frills, Canadore College and the Gathering Place on the items in the store. When people purchase them, they hand them in, and then at the end of the day we’ll have a total and Mike and Lori is going to match it and we’re going to bring all the product to the Gathering Place,” said Head Coach Mark Hopper.
“There are people in the community that can’t afford Christmas dinner. So, we contacted the Gathering Place, they have their dinner on Friday, December 21, so hopefully, this will help. We’re trying to make it so that they have the biggest and best Christmas dinner. I can’t believe how much we’ve gotten already, and we’re less than an hour into it.”
All 14 members of the volleyball team got behind the initiative.
First year student Greg Doane was one of the players inside the store bagging groceries.
He quickly discovered that people had happily embraced the spirit of giving.
“We’ve had a lot of donations and met a lot of generous people. It is good to see the smiles on people’s faces, and it is good to help people out. It is a lot of fun,” said Doane
Shaun Sukhu, a franchisee candidate, says the store will match not only the products purchased but also any monetary donations collected on Saturday.
“This is the first one, and we plan on doing this annually. In addition to matching donations, Mike and Lori are also going to donate some gift cards to the Gathering Place and hopefully set them up with a nice Christmas dinner.”
Coach Hopper believes young people should strive to help their community any way they can, whenever possible.
“Volunteering in the community is important. I think we should instill that in young people. So have fun, be involved in the community, donate time, and try to help people that don’t have much.”
