Christmas Cheer has a home

After Christmas Cheer organizers expressed concerns over not being able to secure a location to carry out its annual holiday charity operation for local families in need, there is now good news.  

“We are thrilled to announce that Christmas Cheer has a home for this year,” wrote Diane Marshall, Christmas Cheer convenor, in an email to SooToday.

The Christmas charity, like last year, will once again be located at the former Sears at Station Mall. 

The Christmas Cheer donation depot will be opening Wednesday, Nov. 20, delivery day for Christmas packages taking place Wednesday, Dec. 18. 

“Working under a very compressed schedule, ‘Santa's Senior Elves’ will likely need to work some overtime in order to once again ‘make the magic happen’ for our community and surrounding area,” Marshall wrote.

The depot is run by volunteers.

Every year, Christmas Cheer, which is now marking its 50th year in operation, delivers donated new toys, monetary donations, warm clothing items such as mittens for children, gift cards and food baskets to local families in need to make their Christmas holiday brighter, serving 16,000 to 18,000 families.

In October, Marshall told city council the charity, which in recent years has used warehouses, vacant schools and abandoned grocery stores as a base, had not been able to find a vacant school as many of them have been sold and turned into condos and office buildings, the Spirit of Hallowe'en store occupying the former Sears location.

With Spirit of Hallowe'en expected to be out by mid-November, Christmas Cheer will now be able to ‘make the magic happen,’ working under a tighter schedule, the charity still hoping to eventually have a permanent home.