Savvy Sleuths - Clue #1

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Image

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Photographs

Description

The picture shows the members of our team and all of us sponsored children in the Christmas Hamper program. The picture was taken in February at the home of the team captain. The Christmas Gift Bags are to illustrate the gifts given to each child from a member of our Women's Institute.

The Story:
Our February 2022 Scavenger Hunt Project is the highlighting of our Christmas Hampers activity.

York Road Women's Institute together with Smithfield United Church helps struggling families at Christmas time. This effort, depending on the need, can involve anywhere from 12 to 20 families and our Institute records show we have been doing this for over 40 years. Smithfield Coffee Club helped for a few years before it disbanded. The Smithfield United Church joined with Carman United Church and York Road Women's Institute amalgamated with Community Women's Institute and together we continue supporting this project.

The names of the families needing support are given to us by the Brighton Hamper Committee. The coordinator is the only one who knows who they are. Members are given a Family Number and the age and sex of a child that requires gifts. Each family not only gets baskets of groceries for a traditional Christmas dinner but also other groceries to help carry them through the next week. However, for all those families that have children, members of our Institute select a child or children that they will buy gifts for, some clothing, some toys and something for a treat.

To help with the cost of the groceries we do fund raising. We usually like to hold an auction of home baked goods plus items that members might have that they would like to donate. During the auction, to make it more interesting and fun, we will often bid on items we ourselves do not need. This starts a rivalry which can be hilarious as we bid up our friends to make more money. At the end of the meeting we have had a lot of fun and we have made a lot of money so it is a win/win activity.

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