Charity Checkstop shows support for Angel Tree

By Justin Seward - Lethbridge Herald on December 3, 2024.

The Lethbridge Police Service were joined by the Angel Tree Campaign and the two local food banks for their annual Charity Checkstop on Saturday at Park Place Mall’s west parking lot.
The check stop collected toys, food items for the food bank and monetary donations in support of local Christmas Hope initiatives.
Due to the generosity of our community, a record-breaking 2,981 unwrapped gifts were collected – the highest number ever received during the Charity Checkstop campaign, said police on Monday, making a special thanks to the Lethbridge Skating Club for their significant contribution to the total.
Volunteers gathered 534 pounds of non-perishable food and $470 in donations. All of the items have been be given to Christmas Hope.
Lethbridge Police Chief Shahin Mehdizadeh said early in the day he thought the check stop was off to a great start.
“Right off the bat, we had a skating club come and (bring) a few hundred toys for us and that was amazing,” said Mehdizadeh.
Mehdizadeh was humbled by the generosity of the Lethbridge community.
“That generosity is very evident and that’s why they want to come and make their city a better city by helping everyone and even the more needy people, especially (at) this time of year,” said Mehdizadeh.
There were anywhere from 10 to 12 off-duty police officers volunteering their time.
“These are cold days when we do this but our hearts are very warm by the end of the day because like any other year I know we (are) going to be collecting hundreds of toys, cash (and) a lot of food for the food banks,” said Mehdizadeh.
Aaron Fedunec, driver and operations assistant for the Lethbridge Interfaith Food Bank, said it’s always great to get out and be a part of the community and raise some food and some funds to help the people in need.
“Everything and anything,” said Fedunec, on what they were looking for.
“We are so low on everything. It doesn’t matter what it is.”
The Interfaith Food Bank sees over 2,000 people utilize their pick room per month, while over 900 families use the food hamper service.

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