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New home for Christmas Cheer is extra cheerful

'It’s spacious, bright and warm,' says Diane Marshall
2016-12-09 FH Clergue Christmas Cheer donation DMH-2
Christmas Cheer convener Diane Marshall offered her thanks to the staff and students of F.H. Clergue School prior to the transport of donations to the Christmas Cheer depot on Friday, Dec. 9, 2016. Donna Hopper/SooToday

After much searching, Christmas Cheer organizers have a home for  the charity’s campaign for 2017.

The Christmas Cheer depot will be located in the now-vacant St. Pius X Catholic School at 48 Oryme Avenue, a side street heading west off Great Northern Road, just south of Quattro Hotel and Conference Centre.    

“We’re thrilled,” said Diane Marshall, Christmas Cheer convenor, speaking to SooToday Thursday.

“It’s spacious, it’s bright and it’s warm.”

“It’s centrally located and it has lots of parking, and people should be able to find it fairly easily,” Marshall said.

Between 1,600 and 1,830 families have been helped through Christmas Cheer in recent years.

Families in need, who have registered by phone requesting help, receive Christmas Cheer baskets of food and toys delivered to their homes by volunteers. 

“We’re really happy. We were worried because some of the buildings we looked at just wouldn’t fit our operation. We had many, many people scouting locations for us,” Marshall said.

This year marks the first time Christmas Cheer has worked with the Huron-Superior Catholic District School Board, which still owns the old St. Pius X School.

The school closed when its students, and those from three other Catholic elementary schools, relocated to the refurbished St. Basil JK to Grade 8 school.

Christmas Cheer volunteers will open the depot Nov. 13.

The Christmas Cheer application line will be open Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., beginning Wed., Nov. 1, at (705) 575-3525.

The deadline to apply for Christmas Cheer is 4 p.m. Wed., Dec. 6.

Delivery of Christmas Cheer baskets will be for one day only, Wed., Dec. 20.

Christmas Cheer locations have been on a one-year-only basis in recent Christmas seasons. 

The charity was located in the now-demolished former Sir James Dunn Collegiate, then in 2015 at the former Alexander Henry High School and, in 2016, at the former Transcom building at 24 Second Line West.


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Darren Taylor

About the Author: Darren Taylor

Darren Taylor is a news reporter and photographer in Sault Ste Marie. He regularly covers community events, political announcements and numerous board meetings. With a background in broadcast journalism, Darren has worked in the media since 1996.
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