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KTW Christmas Cheer Fund: Importance of the cause is amplified this year

These five groups will be helped by your donations: Y Women's Emergency Shelter, Kamloops Therapeutic Riding Association, Chris Rose Therapy Centre for Autism, New Beginnings Stroke Recovery and Kamloops Brain Injury Association.
Todd Sullivan
KTW Christmas Cheer Fund Mahs
Every December, the Mah siblings — from left, Christina, Wesley and Vanessa — visit the Kamloops This Week office to play a few songs and, with mom Michelle to drop off a donation for the KTW Christmas Cheer Fund. This photo is from their 2019 visit. With the pandemic upon us and COVID-19 protocols in place, a visit this year is unlikely, but we are working on having the siblings create some memorable music we can post online for all to hear. The annual KTW Christmas Cheer Fund raises money for five local charities and will be the subject of stories in the print edition of KTW and online at kamloopsthisweek.com from now through December.Dave Eagles/KTW file

The colder weather and arrival of snow means we are now entering what many call the holiday season.

It’s also considered the season of giving and, as Kamloops This Week has done every year since 2014, we celebrate the season of giving with the KTW Christmas Cheer Fund.

The endeavour, which was created in 2001 by Greg Drinnan at the Kamloops Daily News, provides money to five local organizations.

Those groups change every two years, with the exception of the Y Women’s Emergency Shelter, which remains part of the fund every year, at Drinnan’s request.

The other four groups involved this year are Kamloops Therapeutic Riding Association, Chris Rose Therapy Centre for Autism, New Beginnings Stroke Recovery and Kamloops Brain Injury Association.

KTW Christmas Cheer Fund logo

TO DONATE, GO ONLINE TO KAMLOOPSTHISWEEK.COM/CHEER OR DROP BY THE KTW OFFICE AT 1365B DALHOUSIE DR. IN SOUTHGATE (JUST SOUTH OF THE NOTRE DAME DRIVE/DALHOUSIE DRIVE INTERSECTION) WE ARE OPEN WEEKDAYS FROM 8 A.M. TO 4:30 P.M.

In the coming weeks, in print and online at kamloopsthisweek.com, we will be profiling each of these organizations to showcase the work they do in the community and the ways dollars from the KTW Christmas Cheer Fund will help them in 2021 and beyond.

Unlike previous years, the fund is starting off with a bonus of about $9,000 in 2020.

“We’ve partnered this year with the VW Turtle River Race, which gave us a great boost to start the campaign,” explained Tim Shoults, KTW’s operations manager.

The boost is appreciated, as with most other fundraising projects this year, there’s no way to gauge what the response will be like in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The variety of fundraising events will also be reduced because of the pandemic. Last year’s KTW Christmas Cheer Fund raised nearly $50,000.

“Non-profit groups are having to scramble more,” Shoults said.

“It’s going to be more important than ever for people to support the ones that mean something to them.”

One of the benefits of donating to the Cheer Fund is the ability to help a number of local organizations with just a single donation.

Donations can be made at the KTW office at 1365B Dalhousie Drive or online at kamloopsthisweek.com/cheer.