Postal strike hampers charity fundraising campaigns

Ruby Pratka, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

editor@qctonline.com

Local nonprofits which rely heavily on year-end postal donation campaigns are having to get creative amid the ongoing postal strike.

The Quebec Community Christmas Hamper Campaign has gotten used to dealing with the unexpected. After COVID precautions forced the elves at Hamper Headquarters to rework donation and delivery procedures in 2020, 2021 and 2022, a teachers’ strike last year required them to move operations from the Eastern Québec Learning Centre to the Jeffery Hale Pavilion on short notice. Now, the postal workers’ strike has slowed donations and put yet another wrench in the works.

“About a third of the donations we receive – 35 per cent – are through cheques in the mail, so it is pretty significant,” said campaign spokesperson Brigitte Wellens. “This time last year, we were at over $20,000 in donations, and this year we’re at about $16,000, so we’re quite a bit lower than where we normally are.

“We were hoping for a positive resolution [to the strike] before the holidays, but we were already thinking that we might have to find alternative measures for people to donate,” Wellens said, adding that she expects an uptick in donations after the strike ends, as cheques put in the mail before Nov. 15 find their way to Hamper Headquarters. She encouraged those who haven’t yet donated to consider donating online, dropping donations off at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church or the Jeffery Hale Pavilion, or calling Hamper Headquarters at 418-684-5333, ext. 11835 to discuss alternative ways to contribute. Financial donations are used to bulk-buy staples like flour, sugar, coffee and produce that go into each hamper, while donations of nonperishable food are used to top up the hampers. (Expired, opened or homemade items cannot be accepted. Breakfast cereal and canned soup, meat, fish and fruit are especially appreciated.)

Wellens emphasized that even if the campaign raises less money than expected between now and Delivery Day, delivering fewer hampers is not an option. “Times are tough. There has been a 15 per cent increase in demand. Some people are asking for a hamper for the first time, and we don’t know their stories, but my guess would be that they’re working full time and having a hard time making ends meet. The hamper is a big help during the holiday season. We’re in a situation where we might just have to run a deficit for a while after getting all the food.” Wellens expects that over 260 households will receive hampers this year.

At the Société protectrice des animaux de Québec, the city’s largest animal protection nonprofit, director general Karina Painchaud and her team have called up a small army of volunteers to drop off and pick up envelopes for the organization’s annual campaign at donors’ houses.

“We’re 150 years old, and the mailing campaign has had a privileged place for many of those years,” Painchaud told the QCT. “Our goal this year is to send out at least 2,000 letters. I’ve signed them all by hand!”

“Like a lot of nonprofits, we have this issue of distributing [appeals for donations] through the mail. Being confronted with the strike, we had to reinvent ourselves and find a solution. What we did was call on people’s generosity in terms of time; we asked volunteer elves to distribute the mail. Nine people distributed half of our cargo, and we’re still looking for a few elves!” she said. Like Wellens, Painchaud said the campaign has received fewer donations than this time last year.

Painchaud is also encouraging those who can to donate online or drop their cheques off at SPA headquarters on Avenue Galilée in Les Saules. Donations allow the SPA to feed, house and care for the 7,500 vulnerable cats and dogs the organization takes in every year.

Negotiations ongoing

Disagreements over wage increases, health and safety concerns and weekend de- livery staffing and schedules have hampered negotiations between the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) and Canada Post. On Dec. 8, Canada Post released a statement saying it was “still waiting” for the union’s response to its latest proposals.