The Martensville & District Lions presented the Martensville Fire Department (MFD) with a cheque for $1000 Wednesday, November 22nd. This donation will be used towards the annual Christmas Hamper program the MFD does in order to provide for local families in need during the holiday season. “We have been doing donations to the Christmas Hamper program for numerous years now, and it is something that we feel strongly about. We have needy families in this community, and this program gives them one less thing to have to worry about during the holidays,” Syl Serblowski, President of the Lions Club, stated.
Throughout the year, the Lions Club hosts a number of fundraisers to help raise money for projects such as this one and all money raised through these initiatives goes directly back into the community. The Lions Club donates to many local events, and although they manage to do it with a low membership, their contributions do not go unnoticed. New members are always welcome and anyone interested in getting more information about the Martensville & District Lions Club can contact Syl Serblowski at 306-931-2247 or sylserb@hotmail.com. The Lions Club also invites people to attend their meetings, which are held the second Monday of each month at 7pm in the Lions Building.
The Christmas Hamper program has been held in Martensville for the past 22 years, and throughout that time, numerous families have benefited from this generosity. Hampers are created through donations of food, toys, household items, gift cards and more from local residents, schools, businesses and service groups. “People can be nominated by contacting City Hall and leaving a name and phone number for a family that may wish to have a hamper delivered to them. City Hall then passes the information on to the Fire Department so delivery arrangements can be made,” coordinator of the program and Martensville Firefighter James Taylor explained. All information regarding those receiving the food hampers are kept confidential. In 2016, a total of 18 Martensville families received food hampers, a number that has risen in recent years.
This year, the hampers will be assembled on December 18th and distributed to the recipient families on December 20th. “We have service groups come to the hall to help sort the donated food items. Last year, we had the 574 Dakota Air Cadet Squadron, along with the Boy and Girl Scouts of Martensville help with the sorting,” Taylor added. Those assembling the hampers organize and inspect donations to ensure there are no expired items before separating them into hampers for each family that will be receiving one.
