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In a partnership with the Windsor Star going back 111 years, Goodfellows volunteers hit local street corners and intersections on Thursday to hand out special-edition newspapers in exchange for donations for a great cause.
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The campaign continues through Saturday, with about 600 volunteers hawking papers in Windsor, Tecumseh, and LaSalle.
The annual fundraiser helps fill the organization’s Christmas hampers, as well as support other year-round programs, including a food bank. The goal this year is $375,000.
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Last year’s campaign raised a record $403,000 over three days, but the need is growing — the local charity saw a 51 per cent increase in the number of people seeking help from 2022 to 2023 at its food bank.
“It’s well-documented how generous the people in Windsor are,” said Goodfellows president Brian Beaumont. “Year after year they just keep coming through for us. We couldn’t run half the programs that we do if it wasn’t for what they do for us.”
As a result of that surge in demand, Beaumont told the Star his organization had to cut back on its programs.
One of the toughest cuts was being forced to stop giving out meat with the boxes, he said. People had a choice between two pounds of ground beef or a chicken.
“We had to cut that out completely,” said Beaumont. “We’ve made adjustments to all our programs, but that was the biggest cut.”
So if you see a Goodfellow on the street Friday or Saturday, please give generously to the charity’s largest annual fundraiser.
And grab a special edition copy of your local Windsor Star newspaper.
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