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www.carstaroakville.com 905-8457579 905-847 -2595 2212 Wyecroft Rd. 547 Trafalgar Rd. dentistoakville.com 905-842-6030 HALTON TRANSMISSION SNA NEWSPAPER OF THE YEAR 2010 ontario's top newspaper - 2005-2008 Page 3 559 SPEERS ROAD, UNIT #3 (905) 842-0725 A member of Metroland Media Group Ltd. Vol. 50 No. 145 "Using Communication To Build Better Communities" THURSDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2012 32 pages $1.00 (plus tax) Kerr Street Ministries' Christmas Wonders By John Bkila OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF Kerr Street Ministries' (KSM) Christmas Wonders and Beyond is about making sure every Oakville family has a Christmas to remember -- no matter what their financial situation. "It's about helping the underprivileged families in Oakville to celebrate Christmas by giving them food vouchers and gift cards. In other words, we give them what they need so they can go out and buy their own presents for their kids, rather than have someone else do it for them," said program co-ordinator Agnes Stassen -- a.k.a. the Christmas Lady at KSM. "Our focus is to make sure every family has a special meal on the table at Christmas and every child has a gift under the tree." While Stassen has been overseeing the program for a decade, KSM has operated Christmas Wonders since 1998. "We used to have it that one family would sponsor another, but we have stopped doing that because we found there was a loss of hardship. Donations are being sought to reach the anticipated $300,000 needed to make the holidays happen for many Oakville families. CHRISTMAS WONDERS: Agnes Stassen co-ordinates Kerr Street Ministries' Christmas Wonders and Beyond. The program assists 1,000 local families make a holiday come true despite financial MICHAEL IVANIN / SPECIAL TO THE BEAVER / @halton_photog dignity for the parents," said Stassen. The old system also left room for inequity, so now the program provides the same monetary value in gift cards for each member of a client family. "What we're asking from our sponsors, is that we need monetary help with the program so that we can give gift cards of dignity to the families. The advantage of giving monetary donations to us, See More page 5 Free Holiday Ornament FOR THE MONTH OF DECEMBER* *See below for details. Oakville Place Shopping Mall Oakville, Ontario 905 337 9799 Gift with Purchase For the Month of Dec. PANDORA holiday ornament* * See our store for details.