Lacombe & District FCSS staff are thrilled with the generosity they’ve witnessed for programs in preparation for the Christmas season.
“This is one of our busiest times of the year of course - we are just bursting at the seams with not only helping people but also with receiving the kindness from the community to help make these programs happen,” said Crystal Zens, FCSS executive director.
The organization’s programs also serve the entire County as well including the communities of Alix, Clive, and Bentley.
“So far, we have helped 190 people with our Fill a Fridge certificates in our community and the surrounding area, and 85 children to date have been helped through the Coats for Kids program,” she explained.
”Those are pretty incredible numbers, but a lot of kindness, generosity, and love has been shown to our community through the amazing businesses and personal donations that have been made to Lacombe FCSS to make these programs run at Christmas,” she said.
The FCSS has also been helping with the Kinsmen Club’s Santa’s Anonymous program as well.
And while applications for the Fill a Fridge program have closed, folks can still register for the Coats for Kids program until the end of January.
“If the kids have grown out of things and they need more warm winter gear, they can still come in and apply, or apply online as well,” she said.
“For the Fill a Fridge program, if people are in desperate need, please come and see us - we can still help even though the application date is passed. Of course, we are open right up until Dec. 23 for emergency circumstances,” she said.
“There is so much incredible kindness in our community - all the way from Alix to Bentley - there are initiatives happening all over to help people at Christmas through our programs and other amazing charity programs in our city. We would not be able to help people in the way that we do without those incredible donations.”
Looking into 2023, plans are already taking shape for the Kindness Campaign and the Pink Shirt Campaign in February.
“Last year was the first year that we launched the Lacombe Kindness Campaign during Pink Shirt Week. It was a lot of fun, and a lot of businesses and organizations jumped onboard and helped to spread kindness with us during that week,” she said, adding that people can sign up for a Kindness Kit from FCSS.
For more information, check out www.lacombefcss.net.
“We are so lucky to be a channel that can help bridge the donors and those in need. Sometimes we get caught up in the administration, but really it’s about the end result of being that bridge between the donors and our community members and our neighbours that need us the most,” said Zens.
“We’ve never had anything fall short in this community because people always step up in a big way. We have donors and businesses that really rally around making life better for everybody in our community and the surrounding area.”
