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House of Friendship‘s busy bees brighten the holidays for those in need Volunteer delivery driver Esther Cressman gets ready to load a food hamper and a bag of potatoes into her truck. ony Render is used to I missing the light af day in December. He‘s also used to missing meals at home and getting litâ€" 16 tle sleep. We h" I here are _ few people as hardworkâ€" ing as Benâ€" der. espeâ€" cially in the weeks leading up to Christmas Yet Bender, the coordi nator of the House of Friendship‘s annual Christâ€" mas food hamper cam paign. insists he is just one of the many bees that make honey for so many in need over the holidays. "I just make sure we have a building, open the doors By Anparea Baicey Chronicle Staff "We have to remember to be thankful for what we have..." â€" Tony Bender House of Friendship and get out of the way," Bender joked. "Well, it‘s not quite that simple, but it‘s the wonderful volunteers we have that make this proâ€" gram go so smaathly." In fact the project, which has grown from packing and delivering e to between 700 to be and 800 hamâ€" pers to needy T u"’ha‘{ families _ 20 2... years ago, has 4 almost tripled der its efforts. now dship d elivering about _ 3,000 hampers on an annual basis. And those boxes don‘t pack and deliver themâ€" selves, Bender pointed out. "We have a crew of volâ€" unteers that come back year after year â€" ones on the packing line and those making the deliveries." he said. "And whenever we get sNDRLA Bai.Ey PHOTD CITY NEWS new volunteers, it‘s the longtime volunteets that train them. It doesn‘t get any better than that." the House of Friendâ€" ship‘s temporary packing facility on Guelph Street has been a bustle of activity for the past week and a half, with helpers sorting everyâ€" thing from canned goods to dry pasta, packing boxes for families that range in size from one to 10, and getting them out the door in time to give people a wellâ€"baiâ€" anced holiday feast. But all work and no play lessens the holiday cheer. That‘s why the volunteers make sure to keep a sense of humour while they‘re helping to feed the less forâ€" tunate in this community. "I just love the camaâ€" raderie," said Bruce McFarâ€" lane, a retired principal who worked at local schools like Cedarbrae and MacGregor during his career. "These are people 1 only see once a year, but you walk in here like no time has passed. It‘s an unreal feeling." Volunteers Brigitte Jesse (left} and Trevor Bauman (right), along with Christmas hamper pro gram coordinator Tony Bender, sort through the delivery routes. The volunteer, who‘s been helping pack Christâ€" mas food hampers for the past 11 years, said it‘s hard t0 describe how helping those in need makes him feel. "It‘s such a good feeling. That‘s why I keep coming back," he said. McFarlane praised another volunteer who also works on the assembly line of food products, Carl Buschert. "Carl takes two weeks of his personal holidays to do this every year," McFarlane said. "That‘s just wonderâ€" ful." That warmth wasn‘t lost on new volunteers, like James Kaufmann, an MBA student at Wilfrid Laurier University. "I‘m working with a great group of people here," he said. "I just love the atmosâ€" phere." Others prefer to go about their volunteering more independently, picking up the packed hampers and delivering them to the famiâ€" lies on the list. "We‘ve been doing this for more than 10 years Volunteer Bill Glendinning packs canned goods into food hampers at the House of Friendship‘s temporary warehouse 565 King St. N. @ Northtield in GTO Gas Bar www.qtwireless.ca 880â€"1477 _ now." said Esther Cressman. who spent most of Saturday delivering hampers around Kitchenerâ€"Waterloo with her husband, Bruce. Bruce used to run the emergency food hamper program in Cambridge. the couple shared. "It‘s our way of showing we care for people less forâ€" tunate," said Esther. "We have lots to eat and there are so many people who don‘t have enough. "This is our annual Christmas commitment." "It‘s great knowing we‘ve helped people, as well as given people the opportuntâ€" ty to help others," Bender said. "This program reminds people to remember that we really only need a couple things to survive: food, shelâ€" ter and clothing. The rest are luxuries, and most of us have many luxuries. "We have to remember to be thankful for what we have because not everyâ€" body has those same apportunities." trom Bustus 2422 wth 3 at actiy PUb Biathberty Mine 8 Cata 00= GIFT CERTIFICATE TELUVS aADRES ARIEY PaQTo