By Jack Brittle, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Over the holiday season, United Way Halton and Hamilton (UWHH) organizes a Holiday Helping Hand program designed to deliver gifts and essential items to families throughout the month of December.
In mid-November, UWHH posted a list of families or individuals who needed some help during the holiday season. Once residents adopted a family or individual, they were sent a wish list and instructions on how to drop off the items.
Kristen Jacob, vice president of marketing and communications at UWHH, spoke about the history of the program.
“It started in our office hallway with just a couple of organizations and 20-plus families,” Jacob said. “And since then, it’s involved to what it is now. This year we saw double the amount of folks needing support, with over 220 families.”
Jacob said that many of the families’ wish lists this year included basic necessities like pots and pans and hygiene products.
“It’s a really challenging economic time for a lot of families,” Jacob said.
“We’re helping to relieve some of that gap that we’re seeing in the community right now, which is huge and growing, and it doesn’t seem to be getting any better,” Jacob continued.
Currently, the Helping Hand program is sponsored by 25 agencies, 15 of which adopt families and 10 that provide funding and facilitation.
“The agencies will identify the families in the most need for the year and nominate those families to us for the program,” Jacob said.
Along with the seasonal program, UWHH’s donation warehouse operates all year long.
“We get a lot of in-kind donations from various corporate and company partners who provide all different types of goods, and we allow what we call ‘pick days’ with our agencies,” Jacob said.
“They come in and pick any goods they think they might need for their agency,” Jacob continued. “So an example could be someone running a temporary housing for folks who may need mattresses or household goods. We facilitate that for them for free.”
All resident donations were dropped off on December 9 and 10 and were distributed on Dec. 11 and 12.
Emily Huang, the senior manager for resource and community development for Community Living Burlington (CLB), explained the connection between the two groups.
“We are a United Way-funded agency, and so back in 2019, when United Way had this incredible donations warehouse project in mind, we had the space, and we wanted to be able to help support such an incredible partner of ours and also be able to give back to the community as well,” Huang said.
Huang said that although CLB receives government funding, UWHH has helped out tremendously, especially with their residential group homes, which house those with developmental disabilities.
She said that during the holiday season, the UWHH helps out with their Children Inclusion holiday program.
“It’s a program where we are able to give back to the children that are supported on our caseload and be able to give toys to families that are either struggling or just need a little bit of extra support,” Huang said. “With these resources that we were able to get from the United Way, it allows us to be able to focus on supporting the individuals in our programs rather than looking for these resources outside of our organization.”
Jacob said that the program showcases the selflessness of residents during the festive season.
“We definitely see the generosity of our community shining through during the holiday period,” Jacob said. “This year was no exception.”
