We wish you a happy New Year 2024. Before moving on to what’s new for this year, we want to thank the thousands of volunteers and donors for their help during the Holiday Season. Thanks to them, we were able to help over 5,000 families, or almost 15,000 people in the month of December. Volunteers distributed food worth nearly a million dollars and toys worth more than $130,000 to kids aged 12 and under.
We wanted to share with you a thank-you message from a mother who received the gift of hope before Christmas, thanks to your help. We were deeply touched by her words, and hope you will be too.
“I’m writing today to thank you for all the help you’ve given me. Since I contacted you, you’ve never stopped encouraging me to get back on my feet with your kind words, food and everything else! I was desperate, very sick, my children were hungry. My life was turned upside down overnight! My children ate white pasta with nothing in it for days, pretending to love it just so I wouldn’t be sad. I cried day and night, thinking whether I’d be able to feed them the next day, whether I’d be able to put a roof over their heads. Making the choice between paying my rent, my bills, my medication… feeding my children.
I was powerless in the face of all the hardships my children and I were going through; I lost hope and you came to my rescue. I’m not giving up because there are people like you who restore faith in humanity… I’m crying tears of gratitude as I write these lines!
I want you to know that not only have you fed my children and myself, but you’ve given us hope again!
But above all, for the first time in a long time I’ve been able to sleep through the night without waking up thinking how I’m going to fill their little tummies!
These few words can’t explain the feelings that overwhelm me, nor the gratitude I feel towards you right now.
I say THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart. I’ll never forget what you’ve done for us.
Happy Holidays to you and your loved ones!”
As you can see, you’re making a real impact on our community. Your community! That’s something to be proud of.
If you missed it, we highly recommend you watch the second episode of Tout le monde s’habille! We had the great pleasure of being interviewed by fashion and lifestyle journalist Lolitta Dandoy and learned that we supplied her family with their very first snowsuits back in 1985. We spoke with her about the challenges new arrivals are faced with when having to get dressed for the Quebec winter. You can also see a report by our alumnus, Kwabena Oduro, on CBC Montreal News on January 12 about the difficulty food banks have in meeting the growing demand.
To see our Holiday baskets pictures, check out our Facebook album!
