The 2023 Chatham Goodfellows "No Child Without a Christmas" campaign is officially underway.
And members of the Goodfellows are expecting to see a lot of applications come in this year.
The group launched its annual Christmas campaign Thursday night with its 69th Annual General Dinner meeting, handing out awards and recognizing the efforts of several volunteers.
This year's prestigious "President's Award" went to "The Swain Bros" in recognition of the company's commitment to the Chatham Goodfellows for more than 50 years.
A release from the Goodfellows noted that the late Alfred "Bud" Swain and his late wife Patricia were life-long supporters along with their family members.
Wally and Joyce Swain along with Sean and Becky Miller and their children were all recognized Thursday night for their continued help, making it four generations of supporters.
"The Swain Bros have assisted the Goodfellows by getting us out of trouble with broken keys or locks on many occasions over the years," said the Goodfellows in a release, noting they also provided Goodfellows with security devices from locks to keys and any other devices as required.
The company also helps to organize a Porch Light Drive team each year with their family and members of the Cloverleaf Rod and Gun Club.
Other honourees at Thursday night's meeting included Fred and Elsie Strain, who received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Chatham Goodfellows.
They have been volunteering with the group for more than 50 years.
This year's Mrs. Goodfellow is Donna Jean Pardo, who has been involved with volunteering for over 45 years, specifically with the 59 Army Cadets while also making sure there are cadets available to help with the toy packing, food set up days, and food packing days.
The 2023 Mr. Goodfellow is Matt Mitchell, who started volunteering in the mid 1990's.
"He has helped organize and recruit volunteers on the military side and helped line up the big trucks every year for food and toy packing," said the Goodfellows. "He is a strong believer in the mission of Goodfellows and even though it’s not his job to help gather the military for it, he does it anyways because he wants to show everyone the same experiences he’s had with it."
Several other certificates of appreciation were handed out to volunteers involved in knitting, toys, food, and paper sales.
The Goodfellows are now turning their attention to the 2023 Christmas campaign.
The online applications for those who have applied in previous years started on Tuesday, November 1 and Tim Haskell with the Goodfellows said they have already received about 350 of those.
First-time applications start Monday, November 6 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday-Friday and need to be completed via the phone at 519-354-1146.
The applications close on Friday, December 1, 2023.
The Goodfellows' annual Porchlight Campaign is taking place on Monday, December 4 and the gift packing is taking place at the former Monsignor Uyen School at 255 Lark Street on December 11-14.
The Street Sales of the Goodfellows Newspaper is set for December 15-16, the basket delivery is on Monday, December 18, and the food packing will take place at the Spirit and Life Centre starting at 8 a.m. on December 19.
