Kimberly Steier, marketing coordinator for The Olive Tree, left, and Becky Schille, the executive director, received the first copies of the new Gift Guide on Monday that takes the guesswork out of making a difference in the community with a donation toward Christmas programs. Geoff Lee Meridian Source
The Christmas rush is underway at The Olive Tree with the release of its new Gift Guide 2022-2023.
Copies of the guide are available this week from the organization’s Thrift Store and Reclaim used furniture store.
Additional copies will be distributed to local medical offices and other locations as well.
“I hope it will go over really well. A lot of times people want to give back to the community, but they’re not sure how to do that,” said Olive Tree’s executive director Becky Schille.
“This is our 10th guide gift guide; this is our idea of how to show people really small ways of how they give back.”
The Gift Guide includes suggestions on how to support a local family or The Olive Tree itself this holiday season.
It includes suggested donation amounts for seasonal programs such as $100 for a Christmas hamper, and $50 for Coats For Kids.
The guide also suggests a $30 donation for the Gift of Christmas in partnership with Real Country 95.9 to provide local kids with a gift under the tree.
“We helped over 900 children through the Gift of Christmas program last year. It makes a huge difference—those donations for kids particularly teenage boys—they are harder to find gifts for,” said OIive Tree marketing coordinator Kimberly Steier.
This year they are aiming to provide for 1,000 kids.
“That’s kind of the goal to make a bigger difference every year,” said Steier.
The Thrift Store and the Reclaim store are accepting donated gifts for Christmas among other locations with all hands on deck for the busiest time of the year.
This year to date, The Olive Tree has distributed nearly $1 million worth of food to their food rescue partners and community groups.
Their goal is to feed and furnish families and build relationships.
“I think this is an incredible organization that really makes a world of difference to so many people in our community. That helps me sleep at night for sure,” said Steier.
This year’s guide features a handy QR code to scan with a smartphone camera and QR reader.
“It takes you to our website which makes it really easy to donate,” explained Steier.
“So you can choose to either make a monthly, quarterly or annual donation or a donation in amounts specifically suggested in the guide.”
Steier says the QR code makes donating really convenient and eliminates filling out a form.
“If you have a phone, you can do it right online,” she said.
There is even a QR code to become a program volunteer.
The Olive Tree is also facing a high demand for food donations for its community programs and for Christmas hampers.
“The need for food has gone up significantly. Obviously just the price of food, utilities and fuel, and as those things go up, people are struggling to make ends meet. We are definitely starting to see a lot of new clients,” said Schille.
“We’re really short right now on Kraft Dinner, canned vegetables, those kinds of things. We will post that list on social media for people to see if they want to buy something specific.”
Donations for hampers pay for typical non-perishable items along with a ham or a turkey, a box of oranges, a jug of milk and Christmas treats.
The Gift Guide is also asking Santa and the community for donations towards a new food rescue truck and to pay down the mortgage, but for now, it’s all about gifting others.
“We’re just focussing on getting through the Christmas season and making sure all of our clients and community members have their needs met,” said Schille who notes the community always comes through.
“Lloydminster is a very generous city, very community-minded. We’re very lucky to live in a city like this,” she said.
