LITTLE CURRENT––As The Expositor Office was organizing pick-up and delivery of the fruits of this year’s ‘Christmas Charity Challenge,’ someone in the office realized 2018 represented the 25th annual event.
The Christmas Charity Challenge was begun in 1993 as a way to assist the then-fairly new food ban at Manitoulin Family Resources in Mindemoya.
Then-staffer Ruth Mohammed, who sadly passed away at her Ottawa home early this year, was the person who conceived of a “charity challenge” among Little Current and area businesses and institutions to help stock the food bank with food and toys for Christmas a quarter century ago.
Ms. Mohammed designed the first poster and hand-delivered it to the Little Current business community in November of 1993.
There was immediate uptake of the idea and, at one point, The Expositor Office issues “championship” certificates for the business whose staff (and customers) had contributed the most to the food bank in this friendly challenge.
The Expositor doesn’t do this now because it’s understood that the donations of food and gifts are made not for glory but to help out. The paper does, however, always publish an ad that prominently thanks and acknowledge everyone who participates which can be found on page 25.
A note of appreciation must be extended to J. James Bousquet Realty Inc. which has participated every year since the first event and also to both of the Manitoulin Health Centre’s two sites: Little Current and Mindemoya where the staff has been tremendously generous over the years.
Twenty-five years goes by quickly.
This year, The Expositor’s ‘Christmas Charity Challenge’ delivered 1.5 truckloads of donated items to the Mindemoya Missionary Church on Monday of this week where the organizing of this year’s food and gift hampers was taking place.
The Expositor Office would like to thank all the businesses and individuals that have supported this initiative over a quarter century.
