NEWS PHOTO MO CRANKER
Volunteer Brooklyn Kalista wraps a gift Friday afternoon at the United Way gift wrapping booth at the Medicine Hat Mall. The Mall donates the space every year to the charity, which uses the service to raise around $10,000 for its programs.
mcranker@medicinehatnews.com@MHNmocranker
The United Way of Southeastern Alberta is set up in the Medicine Hat Mall and is ready to help Hatters wrap their Christmas gifts.
The group’s wrapping booth is set up this year in an empty storefront near Shoppers Drug Mart and Safeway and is operating during normal mall hours.
“We’ve been open since Black Friday,” said United Way executive director Missy Fandrick. “Things always start a bit slow for us here but as we get closer and closer to Christmas, it really picks up.
“The weekends are going to be pretty crazy leading up to Christmas – we’re booked up with volunteers and ready to help people.”
Pricing for wrapping jobs differs from item to item depending on the size and how many supplies it will use to finish the job. Fandrick says the range is from $3 for something small and $20 for something like a large portrait or a banjo. All of the proceeds go back to the local United Way chapter.
“Our volunteers do wonderful jobs on wrapping the gifts,” said Fandrick. “We have some volunteers who come in with their own supplies – it really is a thing of pride for them to do an amazing job on these.
“If the volunteers aren’t comfortable wrapping we’ll make sure they have help and are getting taught to do it well.”
Fandrick says the fundraiser brings in around $10,000 per year for United Way.
“Even during these really tough times, people still come out and show support,” she said. “This is a popular fundraiser because people immediately get something back for their donation.”
