The baskets that were delivered last year/ London Ontario Basket Brigade Facebook
The London Basket Brigade is delivering ham, turkey, and vegan dinners along with a $200 grocery store gift card to 130 families in London struggling. The London Basket Brigade is also partnering up with the Jansen Christmas Toy Drive to provide less fortunate children with presents in time for Christmas morning.
Established by The Tony Robbins Foundation which formed in 1991, the International Basket Brigade feeds over two million families in nine countries each holiday season. When the local chapter debuted, recipients were recommended from Wilfrid Jury Public School. Since then Merrymount Family Support and Crisis Centre have linked several families struggling to have food, personal items, and toys to the London Basket Brigade as well.
Joe Cardillo runs the local Basket Brigade chapter. He says why this year, is the most crucial year of the 12 years of doing this drive.
“There are more people now than ever who need some help to get back on their feet,” Cardillo stated. “I don’t think things are going to go back to normal, I think there’s going to be a new normal. People are going to need to find their way, whether it’s new skills, or whatever it may be. We’re just glad we can help out some of the families.”
Collecting food donations during the 2017 Drive/ London Ontario Basket Brigade Facebook
For the 12th annual London Basket Brigade, volunteers will load their vehicles up at Sherwood Forest Mall on Monday, December 21 between 9:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. To execute delivery day safely, appointments, masks and social distancing are mandatory. The Warehouse Guys are transporting No Frills food donations to Sherwood Forest Mall where members will place the meals into the trunks of volunteers’ vehicles. They then will pick up toys which have been quarantined and fogged from the Jansen family’s truck. Volunteers will ultimately drop the baskets on doorsteps and wish the happy recipients a Merry Christmas from a safe distance. Cardillo says that they were considering taking a break from the drive this year due to COVID-19.
“We didn’t want to jeopardise anybody’s safety. As our group spent some time together and thought of how can we do this in a way that’s safe for everybody, we came together with this solution,” Cardillo says. “I’ve had the opportunity to talk to several of the families about our delivery day and connect with them like I do most years, and they’re like, we need it more this year than ever.”
Normally, the Basket Brigade would ask for food or cash donations. However, this year they only sought cash donations to provide families gift cards. They had a donation goal of $30,000. Cardillo says that they will exceed that goal.
“Not only will we have exceeded $30,000, but we might also exceed over $35,000,” Cardillo stated. “That’s going to provide us to do the $200 gift cards for every family, but it’s also going to provide us with the opportunity to give some gift cards to Marymount that they can distribute in the spring of 2021.”
Donations can still be made here. Every donation over $25 will be entered into a raffle draw and have a chance to win over 50 prizes from local businesses like Tetherwood Spa, Chef David Rocco, and Junction Climbing.
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