As part of the credit union philosophy of People Helping People, KCCU is committed to building, strengthening, and enhancing the lives of those in our Kingston community. Throughout the year, our Community Sharing Program helps support local organizations and community groups by providing financial and volunteer support.
The KCCU Christmas Caring Program has been going strong for over thirty years and has provided over 1,000 members and their families with resources to enjoy and celebrate Christmas. The program evolved from an annual staff gift exchange and blossomed into our co-operative community program of Members Helping Members.
Christmas Caring is designed to help those members who have encountered personal economic hardship over the past year due to illness, layoff, job loss, under-employment, or limited income. We provide these member families with a supply of staple groceries that should last the family 2-3 weeks as well as all the fixings for a traditional Christmas dinner. We do our best to also provide gifts for the families’ children.
Nominations are submitted by our staff in November and vetted by our staff committee. In early December our branch Christmas trees are adorned with donation cards which outline details and gift ideas for nominated children and seniors.
The program is completely anonymous and is specific to helping members of Kingston Community Credit Union only.
Many of our members look forward each year to selecting a card and spreading some Christmas cheer to those who need a little help.
We hold staff fundraising events throughout the year to help fund our program but it is the generosity from our members that continues to shine through each year! If you care looking to support our Christmas Caring Program, here’s how you can help.
Children and seniors from our selected member families who have agreed to take our extended helping hand for Christmas are added to our Christmas Giving Tree. The card indicates the child’s age, gender, size, and includes some general ideas for gifts.
Purchase a gift for your selected child or senior and drop off to one of our branches no later than the date listed on the card.
If you are purchasing your gift online, please feel welcome to have the gift delivered directly to our Gardiners Road branch and include Christmas Caring and child’s age on the package.
If you don’t have the time to shop for a gift but would still like to support the program, you can make a cash donation to help us purchase groceries and gifts.
We will purchase all the fixings for Christmas dinner along with a staple order of groceries that will last two to three weeks for our member families.
Please note that we are unable to provide tax receipts as our program is not a registered charity.
In addition to the Christmas Caring program, with the support of our members, staff, and the community, we collect items to create Winter Care Kits for those in need. These kits are designed to assist marginalized individuals who may be facing hardships during the colder months.
Possible items to include in a Winter Care Kit:
A third party is an individual or entity, other than the account holder or those authorized to give instructions about the account, who directs what happens with the account. For example, if an account were opened in one individual’s name for deposits that are directed by someone else, the other person or entity would be a third party.