Community members in Irricana are banding together to help three local families who are struggling to pay for Christmas presents and other holiday costs this year.
The Irricana-based Facebook group Adopt-A-Family is an informal collective of caring locals who have come together to spread holiday cheer by lending a hand to their neighbours this Christmas season, said Stephanie Edgington, who is co-organizing the group with her friend Nadeane Baker.
The group started in response to a plea by a local mother who reached out and asked for help on social media. Since that first plea, two other local families have also come forward to say they could not afford to pay holiday-related costs this year for their children either.
“I think when one person is willing to do that, and is willing to swallow their pride, it gives other people permission to be vulnerable,” said Edgington. “And it also gives those of us who are capable of helping an opportunity to do so.”
Edgington said Adopt-A-Family now has about 35 members who are working together to lend a hand by buying gifts and paying for gift cards for groceries.
“Within 12 hours of posting (our group online), all of the kids had at least one gift spoken for,” confirmed Edgington. “This is an outpouring of care from people in our community toward people in our community. It’s exciting to know the giving we are doing is staying right here in our community and blessing people that we know.”
Escalating food and fuel costs have had a major impact on family budgets in the small rural community roughly 30 kilometres east of Airdrie, said Edginton – and some families just don’t have the means to afford their own Christmas gifts or meals this year.
“Living out here where we are, we are distant from everything,” she said. “Gas costs are going way up. We spend more to drive into the city for work, and child-care costs are higher because those in local child care have to be in child care longer as we have longer commutes. And while everyone’s costs are going up, it is being especially felt by those who live a bit more rural because there are some of those extra stressors.”
According to Edgington, the best thing about Adopt-A-Family is the feeling she gets from directly caring for someone in her own community who is struggling this Christmas season. It’s not just up to food banks and organizations like Community Links to help those in need in smaller communities, she argues, it’s up to everyone to do their part the best they can.
“The more we can help people living next door to us, the more those organizations will be able to help people who don’t have those networks,” she said. “I would really encourage anyone who has the means to set something up like this, and throw out feelers to the people around you to see who is hurting, and who needs your help.”
