Welcome Hall Mission spreads Christmas cheer with annual gift giveaway


“This is the only place that gives us Christmas gifts every year,” says Olaoye Adenike. “They don’t know what they’re doing for my family. They’re really doing a lot.”

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Olaoye Adenike was relieved to be able to offer early Christmas presents to her three sons on Saturday in St-Henri.

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Her boys were among more than 1,000 kids to receive gifts over the course of the day as part of the Welcome Hall Mission’s 16th annual Noël pour tous event.

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“I’ve been in Canada five years now,” said Adenike, who is originally from Nigeria. “I come here every year. My kids love it. They are given beautiful, expensive gifts. If I go to stores to get this, it would cost me a fortune, but they give it to us for free. That’s so generous.

“We can’t afford to miss it. We don’t have any other place. This is the only place that gives us Christmas gifts every year. They don’t know what they’re doing for my family. They’re really doing a lot.”

Adenike comes to the Welcome Hall Mission every week to pick up food as a member of the Welcome Hall Mission’s free grocery store. She also benefits from the organization’s distribution of free school supplies at the beginning of the school year and its Halloween gift giveaway.

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“Since we came to Canada, they’ve made us feel welcome,” she said. “They treat us like family, so we never feel abandoned. Now, we’re going to enjoy our Christmas with all these beautiful gifts.”

Her son Michael, 4, got a Play-Doh Town; Emmanuel, 8, was excited about his Hover Hockey game, and meeting the man of the hour.

“My favourite part is when we got the presents and I got to meet Santa,” he said. “I actually never saw him before. I didn’t think he was real. And he comes from the North Pole. It’s pretty cool.”

Don’t tell Emmanuel, but sitting in for St. Nick on this morning was Sud-Ouest borough mayor Benoit Dorais.

David, who turns 11 on Wednesday, was impressed by people’s generosity.

“These gifts they gave us, if you go to a store, they would cost a lot of money — like a fortune,” he said. “So, I say thanks to them.”

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Alejandro Rincon and Kathia Cabello have been adapting to their new life in Canada since arriving from Mexico eight months ago. As they accompanied their son Mariano, 7, and daughter Luciana, 5, the couple was feeling the Christmas spirit.

“This is incredible,” Rincon said. “The help the people give here for us is amazing. It’s incredible to have the groceries and now presents for the kids.”

He and Cabello are bi-weekly participants in the free grocery store, which they say is almost enough to get them through without having to buy more food.

“It’s a huge support for us,” Rincon noted.

Their family was impressed not only by the gifts, but by the entire Christmas village set up on the premises, complete with candy counter, arts and crafts table, gift selection section, stocking station and the climactic photo op with Santa.

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“We didn’t expect this to be so beautiful,” Rincon said. “Everything is …”

“… magic,” Cabello interjected.

“Magic, yeah,” Rincon concurred.

Those words are music to the ears of Samuel Watts, CEO of the Welcome Hall Mission.

“The idea is to create an experience for kids, because we have the fundamental belief that just because you’re poor, you shouldn’t be robbed of the joy of the holidays, and you shouldn’t get second-best,” he said.

The Welcome Hall Mission will distribute 1,900 gifts on Saturday and over the next few days, Watts explained, making it their biggest Christmas giveaway yet.

“The need is bigger,” he said, “and we know why: inflation hit families who are right on the edge harder.”

Mark Miller, MP for Ville-Marie—Sud-Ouest—Île-des-Soeurs stopped by, and was enthused by what he saw.

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“There are 1,900 people signed up for this, getting toys for kids that perhaps they couldn’t afford, and it’s being done in dignity and fun,” said Miller, whose maternal great grandfather, Arthur Osborne Dawson, ran the Welcome Hall Mission during the Great Depression.

“Institutions like this need to exist,” he said, pointing to the organization’s 130-year history dating back to 1892. “The need is still there, and they’re doing great work. I’m just happy to be part of it and take it all in.”

AT A GLANCE: To donate to the Welcome Hall Mission, visit welcomehallmission.com

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