Wow. It’s that time of year again. Already. How did that happen?!

Welcome to another Giftmas Blog Tour to benefit the Edmonton Food Bank.

I’ve been hosting this blog tour for several years now, and usually I lead off with the story about how the food bank had a positive impact on my life when I was a kid, and then later when my spawn was a kid. I talk about how, now that I’m in a more stable place, a more financially privileged place, I’m excited to be able to pay some of that back. To help other families who are going through rough times, or just need a little something extra to help them through the holidays. But, to be frank, I’m actually pretty tired of telling that story.

If you’ve been here before you’ve heard it before, and if you haven’t, you can probably fill in the blanks.

So here is an updated, though still absolutely true, story about why this fundraiser matters to me. About why I truly believe this fundraiser is the most important thing I do every year.

Food and the holiday season go hand in hand in my world. There are a lot of things I enjoy about the secular Christmas my family and I celebrate, but figuring out the menus and sharing meals together are definitely in my top three. When I was a little kid we always used to have two different Christmas dinners. The first was on Christmas Eve when my mother, siblings and I (and later my (step)father as well) would have a family dinner together. Dinner was usually a roast ham or turkey with all the trimmings, and we’d get to use the ‘fancy glasses’ and good china. (Christmas Eve was the only time we got to use it, it was very special).

And then on Christmas morning, after all the presents were opened, we would have breakfast. And breakfast was always those little individual cereal boxes — again the only time all year that we got to have them. Once breakfast was done, we’d get dressed and head over to my grandmother’s for Christmas dinner. My grandmother had a very big house with a very big dining room table which was piled with food to feed my very big extended family. That dinner was always a roast turkey, often with ham as well, with so many sides and desserts that the table was groaning. And so were all of us after we’d feasted together.

Once the food was cleared away, the cards would come out and people would gather around the table to play games, or around the tv to watch whatever was on, or just chat in little groups scattered around the house. Often shooing the youngest kids with the noisiest toys to another room in order to postpone the inevitable headache.

As an adult my Giftmas traditions are a little different, but they still include a family meal on Christmas Eve, a special breakfast the next morning and a feast of sorts on Christmas evening. It’s a lot of family time and it all rotates around the table.

So, it makes my holidays a bit brighter to know that this blog tour helps other families have full bellies and shared time together over a meal. Because, for me, that’s kind of what it’s all about.

I know your there are a lot of great causes asking for your support, especially this year, and especially near the holidays, but I hope you’ll spare a moment to consider donating to this one.

You can do that right now by clicking here:

Or hang around just a wee bit longer to learn more about this tour and how it’s all going to unfold 🙂

Between now and the 18th of December some of my friends and I are going to tell you a story.

Here is our schedule:
December 7th — Rhonda Parrish http://www.rhondaparrish.com/home/
December 8th — Jennifer Lee Rossman http://jenniferleerossman.blogspot.com
December 10th — Beth Cato https://www.bethcato.com
December 11th — Jemima Pett http://jemimapett.com
December 12th — Stephanie A. Cain https://www.stephaniecainonline.com/blog
December 13th — Pete Aldin https://petealdin.com/blog-and-podcasts/
December 14th — E.C. Bell www.eileenbell.com
December 15th — JB Riley https://jbriley.com/
December 16th — Laura VanArendonk Baugh http://LauraVAB.com
December 17th — Rhonda Parrish http://www.rhondaparrish.com/home/

I will be starting a story on the 7th, and then each of the blog train participants will take a turn adding onto it. Until, at the end we will have told you a complete story and, hopefully raised some money to help support the food bank.

It’ll be like holiday magic!

And speaking of magic, because of the power of bulk buying and community partnerships, the Edmonton Food Bank can magically turn every dollar that is donated into 3 meals.

3 meals!

That means, quite literally, that every dollar counts.

Our goal this year is $1,200 and if we meet it that will be 3,600 meals for people who could really use them.

(And did I mention that’s in Canadian dollars? It is! So if you live in the United States, Europe or the UK you can get an even bigger bang for your buck!)

That’s… that’s a lot I just dropped on you, isn’t it? So I’m going to end this for now with one last link to our fundraiser page on Canada Helps so you can donate right now before it slips your mind –> https://www.canadahelps.org/en/pages/2021-giftmas-fundraiser/

Be sure to come back tomorrow, though, to jump on the train and start reading the story 🙂

P.S. My Australian friend needed a Canadian postal code to donate for some reason (this is new, this year. I’m still looking into it). If you run into this problem Santa’s postal code at The North Pole is H0H 0H0 or if you’re feeling more sci-fi, the postal code for Vulcan, Alberta is T0L 2B0

🙂

 

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