Gazette Christmas Fund: Help us make the holidays a little brighter

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As we all take our first tentative steps out of the shadow of COVID, I find myself doing something I haven’t done in two years: planning to attend a Christmas event.

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Next Thursday’s event does not involve Santa Claus or mistletoe. The stars of the night will be 24 curlers and three layers of ice, and the occasion is the annual competition between the Royal Montreal and Pointe-Claire curling clubs for the Art MacDonald Trophy.

You may be wondering what curling has to do with Christmas. Well, every year since 2007 or 2008, the two organizations have been donating the proceeds of the competition and dinner to the Montreal Gazette Christmas Fund.

It’s a tradition based on wanting to give something back to the community, said Tim Lapin of the Royal Montreal club, who is co-chair of the event along with Ron Torrens of the Pointe-Claire club. (The Royal Montreal, by the way, is the oldest curling club in North America, dating back to 1807.)

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The night features three simultaneous curling matches and lots of friendly rivalry, Lapin said. “But the real winner is the Christmas Fund, which is good,” he said.

Very good indeed. Over the past 13 years, teams have donated more than $ 20,000 to the Christmas Fund.

Your donations join hundreds of others in Montréal, both individuals and organizations, allowing us to help others in the community who are facing challenges to make ends meet.

Last year, thanks to your generosity in the midst of the pandemic, we raised $ 855,751. The smallest donation was an anonymous contribution of $ 2. One of the largest was $ 15,000 from the Inflight Canada team, loyal contributors to the fund. (Thank you, as always, on board; your public spirit is greatly appreciated.)

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Those contributions allowed us to distribute checks for $ 125 to 6,500 families and individuals in need this past holiday season.

Over the course of the next month and a half, we will tell you more about some of the people who need our help this year, people like Annie, whose challenges are narrated by my colleague Erik Leijon.

Once again, we are committed to providing 6,500 checks to those who need them. As usual, the Gazette will absorb all administration costs, so every penny you donate will go directly to the recipients.

Like many of you, we are still working from home, so once again there will be no one in our offices to process the checks. So, like last year, we accept online donations only through our secure website. www.christmasfund.com .

I hope it will help us to help our Montreal colleagues once again, as it has for the past 54 years. Thanks in advance for your generosity.

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