Canadians want gifts that give back
One third of Canadians plan to scale back their holiday spending, according to a new Canada Helps poll.
The poll also found nearly half of the people asked said they’d prefer a gift that makes a difference, such as a charitable donation.
Nicole Danesi is a public relations manager with Unite for Change. She said the poll shows that Canadians are very aware of the challenges other community members are facing.
“Two in ten Canadians so about 22 per cent are expecting to rely on essential charitable services in the next six months,” said Danesi.
“This is something like food and shelter for example and that stat was actually at 14-percent in January so it’s increased.”
Danesi said that Canadian gift giving practices have changed since last year.
"Among that group of Canadians that expecting to crawl back their giving, parents were much more likely to reduce their holiday spending versus families without children," she added.
This year the Sudbury branch of the Salvation Army plans to hand out over 900 Christmas hampers and hopes to raise over $200,000 through the Kettle campaign.
"People are dropping off toys, gift cards for toys as a way to help ensure that kids have a nice Christmas because we have a lot and we keep accumulating more and more now is a good change to give back," said the army's area director Jeffrey Robertson.
The CTV Lions Children’s Christmas Telethon is another regional charity campaign, which has been running for 74 years, aims to put smiles on family’s faces on Christmas morning.
Telethon Chair Sam Khoury said people all over the region and beyond always come through for local families in need.
"When we go around and they know this is for the telethon everybody try’s to give a hand and to help the telethon to assist those families and the kids because you have to put a smile on the face of those kids at Christmas time," said Khoury.
According to Canada Helps, Tuesday November 29th is labeled Giving Tuesday. The aim is to highlight creative ways to give the community through the holiday season by encouraging donations to your favourite cause.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Maple Leafs fall to Bruins in Game 3, trail series 2-1
Brad Marchand scored twice, including the winner in the third period, and added an assist as the Boston Bruins downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series Wednesday
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
New Indigenous loan guarantee program a 'really big deal,' Freeland says at Toronto conference
Canada's Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was among the 1,700 delegates attending the two-day First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC) conference that concluded Tuesday in Toronto.
'Life was not fair to him': Daughter of N.B. man exonerated of murder remembers him as a kind soul
The daughter of a New Brunswick man recently exonerated from murder, is remembering her father as somebody who, despite a wrongful conviction, never became bitter or angry.