Christmas Cheer has been launched for the year.

The fundraiser gifts lower-income families with children, groceries for Christmas time including all the ingredients for Christmas dinner.

“It includes a turkey, fresh vegetables, bread and then an assortment of canned goods and other items to complete that meal for a week,” explained Chair Jill Thompson. “It’s enough food to feed a family for a week.”

Children of these families also receive toys supplied through the Thunder Bay Professional Fire Fighters’ Toys for Tots campaign which is kicking off on Friday.

Residents in need of support are going to have to reach out to Christmas Cheer, through a different method this year due to the Canada Post’s labour disruption.

“It’s resulted in the cards not getting out to some of the recipients, that’s how people register,” explained Thompson. “So when the cards are missing, registration is missing. So it’s going to be imperative for the message to get out that people are going to need to register.”

“They’re going to have to go to the (District of Thunder Bay Social Services Administration Board) office on Main Street. They’re going to have to call into their caseworkers or they’re gonna have to call our Christmas cheer Office when it starts taking calls on December 2nd. They’re gonna need to be patient, and they’re gonna need to be persistent and just keep calling to make sure that they’re registered.”

The event runs for a month with the Christmas Cheer organization accepting donations and using them to purchase the food for the families.

There are a few ways interested residents can get involved.

Here at Acadia Broadcasting, 99.9 The Bay and Country 105 have joined Christmas Cheer to sponsor the 36 hours of Cheer marathon.

Both stations will be broadcasting live for the entire 36 hours spreading the message of Christmas Cheer.

The stations are hosting a “pop-up” set up outside the studios at the corner of Park Avenue and Water Street South for 36 hours from December 12 at 6:00 a.m. until December 13 at 6:00 p.m. to collect monetary donations.

Contributions are tax deductible and receipts will be provided for all donations of $10.00 and over.

Donations are also being accepted through the following methods:

• Online here 
• In person at any Thunder Bay Scotiabank branch
• By mail: Send a cheque payable to Thunder Bay Christmas Cheer Fund P.O. Box 10297, Thunder Bay, ON P7B 617 (*Note there is an ongoing postal strike)
• On your smartphone text CHEER to 344-1053 or 344-8229 between November 28th – December 14th to instantly receive a link to donate

A new change this year is the pickup dates for the event.

Once the gift hampers have been filled with food residents can pick them up on Wednesday, December 18th (Southside) and Thursday, December, 19th (Northside).

This year, the pick-up location will be at the Coliseum Building on the CLE Grounds.

The Christmas Cheer Fund is requesting that only one member per family come in to collect the gift box.

The fund is also still accepting volunteers and you can reach out to them through their website to get involved.

Last year, the charity provided a gift of food and toys to over 8,500 people in the community of which 4,300 were children.

This year, the goal is to exceed those numbers.

Ontario Power Generation kicked off this year’s donations by providing a cheque for $15,000.

Those looking for more information are encouraged to click here.

The Christmas Fund was established in 1924, and in the early 1990s, the organization became a registered charity known as Thunder Bay Christmas Cheer Fund.

The charity’s mandate is to provide food, clothing and toys to children living in poverty, and gift boxes for their families at Christmas.