With the holiday season fast approaching, most of us are probably touching up our wish lists and making sure that we don’t miss anyone on our own shopping list. Amidst our holiday cheer are those who are not as fortunate. They are the people who may be one paycheck away from homelessness, who may already be experiencing homelessness, or those people who are just making ends meet.

Ted has recently lost his job and Mark works full time making minimum wage. Ted and Mark just recently received a notice from their landlord that their rent is increasing by $200.00 dollars. The only way they can pay their rent is if they don’t buy groceries and Mark doesn’t buy his bus pass for work. Ted has dinner with his friend one night and his friend tells him all about the newscast he saw that evening about the Holiday Hamper program at AIDS Calgary and that he was thinking he would donate to the program. Ted leaves dinner thinking that maybe he should call AIDS Calgary and ask about the program. The next morning Ted calls AIDS Calgary to find out more information, and as he is HIV positive he is eligible for their hamper program and just needs to come to register. At the intake, the worker signs him up for a hamper as well as informs him about other services that he and Mark can access during this difficult time. Ted leaves feeling quite relieved knowing that he will have food and some extra items for their stockings, making this Christmas one that they will both be able to enjoy.

My name is Roseline, and I am the Case Manager and In House Support Worker at AIDS Calgary Awareness Association. I provide longer term supportive counseling for people living with HIV/AIDS. I also coordinate the Holiday Hamper Program, with the help of a fine team of volunteers and staff. The hamper program has been running at AIDS Calgary for six years and provides anyone living with HIV/AIDS the opportunity to access a hamper crammed with holiday cheer.

The hampers are filled with all the Christmas dinner essentials: potatoes, yams, cranberries, mixed vegetables, stuffing, Christmas oranges, and a Safeway food voucher to be used towards a turkey or whatever somebody chooses. We also stuff the hampers with essentials to get through the winter season: canned soups and stews, jam and peanut butter, cookies, and crackers. We will include basic need items such as: laundry soap, bleach, toilet paper, dish soap, and basic bath and shower supplies. We also try to include a few bus tickets as transportation is often an issue for people who are living on a lower income.

The Holiday Hamper Program is available to people living with HIV/AIDS in Calgary who are in need. All we ask is that they register with AIDS Calgary as a client. It usually takes just one appointment with a support worker to apply for a holiday hamper and to register.

A successful hamper program is dependent on donations. In the past years all of the hampers have been made up of items that the public has donated from our wish list. Some of the items have been purchased by staff and volunteers with money that has been donated by the public.

There are many ways to help out. Donating to the Holiday Hamper Program is as easy as going online, at www.aidscalgary.org. AIDS Calgary also invites people to come down to our office, 200, 1509 Centre Street South, to see some of our programs in action, and to drop off monetary donations or any holiday hamper items. Donations will be accepted until Dec 15th, 2006.

There is also the opportunity to donate your time as a volunteer helping put hampers together or delivering them to people in need. Call AIDS Calgary at (403) 508-2500 for more information on how to support the program, or to register for a Holiday Hamper..

AIDS Calgary Awareness Association

(403) 508-2500

www.aidscalgary.org