CamBay plans Christmas hamper, games fundraiser

For people who are homeless and poor in Cambridge Bay, getting through the holiday season, when it’s cold and dark, can be hard. To help out the disabled, elderly, unemployed and single parents in the community, the hamlet’s Wellness Centre will hand out between 75 and 100 Christmas hampers. (FILE PHOTO)

After digging themselves out following this past week’s fierce blizzard — whose winds toppled satellite dishes and half-buried houses around town — people in Cambridge Bay can look forward to having fun, for a good cause, on Dec. 9.

Friday night at the Luke Novoligak community hall, doors open at 5:30 p.m. for a fundraising bingo set to start at 7 p.m..

Tickets for the fundraiser cost $100, but these offer a chance to win a $10,000 jackpot or a door prize of a First Air round-trip ticket to one of the airline’s destinations.

Among the silent auction’s items at the fundraiser: glass etchings and artwork by local artist Kevin Taylor.

All the proceeds — above and beyond the first $10,000 raised — will be split between the Wellness Centre’s Christmas hamper drive and the hamlet’s Christmas games.

The money will help stock the 75 hampers which the Wellness Centre will distribute Dec. 23, said the centre’s director Marie Ingram.

The disabled, elders, unemployed and single parents are among those slated to receive hampers.

In them, recipients will find a turkey — donated by the Ikaluktutiak Elks, along with potatoes, corn, cake mixes, flour, sugar, butter, “lots of bannock stuff,” juice, and milk.

Children under 12 can also count on a stocking stuffed with useful items and treats.

The hampers will help stave off depression over the holidays, Ingram said.

For the homeless and those living in overcrowded housing, December kicks off a season full of sadness and turmoil, she said.

“Christmas and cold bring out desperation,” Ingram said. “People start to panic a bit. When you don’t have resources, it makes you sad, and kids dosn’t understand that there’s no money, no food.”

To keep spirits up, the Wellness Centre also plans to hold a “Ladies Night” Christmas party on Dec. 15, from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m., also at the Luke Novoligak community hall.That gathering will include snacks, non-alcoholic beverages, fun, games and a discussion about keeping safe from violence in Cambridge Bay.

And to keep the holidays safer for everyone, Cambridge Bay’s hamlet council recently passed a ban on the import of alcohol into the community from Dec. 19 to Jan. 1, 2012.