Kids and families in our area are getting some help for the holidays.
Canadian Tire and Moose FM are partnering for the upcoming “Spirit of Giving” donation drive, benefiting the House of Lazarus, Jumpstart and the Salvation Army.
According to organizer Sam Harris, donations of cash, new toys for kids, and non-perishable food items will be collected and split between the three charities.
“The Salvation Amy gets all the money from its kettles,” explains Harris, “and they’re getting all the toy donations, and they’re getting 80 percent of the food. House of Lazarus is sort of a smaller scale, so they’re going to get 20 percent of all the cash outside the kettles, and 20 percent of the food.”
Harris says the Salvation Army will get another 20 percent of the other cash donations, with all the rest going towards Jumpstart, which helps get kids into sports programs.
This is the second year for the Spirit of Giving event, and the first for new Kemptville Canadian Tire owner Rick Johnson, who took over the store in September.
He says there was zero hesitation to run the event again this year, and that he hopes it becomes even bigger in the future.
Last year’s event collected more than $2,600 in cash, 1,300 pounds of food, and 300 new toys, which were all donated to the Salvation Army.
This year’s Spirit of Giving is happening outside the Kemptville Canadian Tire on November 18th, from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM. 97.5 Moose FM will be broadcasting live on location during the event.