The Gift – Come Together CK

Gift Dance Tutorials

Interested In Volunteering?

We invite you to join The Gift CK however you would like to be involved, as much or as little as it is all your choice. Volunteers welcomed as equals at any role/level. Individual communities & neighbourhoods make the plans and decisions for their area.

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Drop Off Locations

Town

Blenheim

Bothwell

Cedar Springs

Charing Cross

Chatham

Chatham Dropoff locations

Chatham

Dealtown

Dresden

Erieau

Highgate, Duart, Muirkirk

Merlin/South Buxton

Mitchell’s Bay

North Buxton

North Harwich

Ridgetown/Morpeth

Rondeau

Thamesville

Tilbury

Wallaceburg

Depot Location

Glad Tidings Church

Bothwell Fire Hall

Coming Soon

Holy Trinity church

Light house Dental, Marcos food, walmart

Sears

will be taken to Kinsmen Hall – Erie Street North Merlin

Old Dresden Casino

Word of Life Church, Blenheim

Grave diggerz

Kinsmen Hall – Erie Street North Merlin

Mitchell’s Bay Marina (3 allen road)

North Buxton Community Park

Rushes and mckays corner

Ridgetown Scout Hut

Bayview market drop off location then taking to ridgetown

Sertoma Hall

Ashley’s Place

Wallaceburg

Important Dates:

Present – Nov 17: find everyone that wants to volunteer and participate and begin finding all those in need in our community to benefit from this food and gift drive.

NOV 18 – COMMUNITY COLLECTION DAY put any gift that you feel called to on your front step before 12 noon and someone from our collection crew will pick it up to help get it into the hands of someone who needs it.

Nov 19 – Dec 25 – Get the gifts in the right hands. The collection belongs to all of us, who do you know that will only accept it from you?
The Gift is the community and is run by the community, there is no hierarchy or selection process, therefore everyone selects their own roles. Create your own role or select from below:

Community Captain – Organize and facilitate the volunteers in your community with other captains. It’s a team, even if you just have one skill to bring to them. Each area has full discretion over all decisions. It’s up to your community to decide what it does with the collection . 

Volunteer – Pick up November 18, spread the word, make a TikTok challenge, help sort the collection, paint signs, do The Gift dance etc. anything your heart calls you – this is your role, you do it your way, no permission needed!

Donate – Put any gift on your front porch on Nov 18. Non-perishable food item, toys, books, socks, sudoku for a senior, gift card for a haircut voucher to support local businesses, coupon for a free snow shoveling etc.

Spread the word – Let your friends, family, coworkers, neighbours know the Gift is happening. Remind them to leave a gift on the porch on November 18th. Share on social media. Follow The Gift on social media accounts. Tell the world about how excited you are for November 18th!

Receive – If you need it and would like to benefit from the Gift, get in touch with us and we will ensure you don’t miss out.

Distribute – The many amazing organizations within CK simply can’t find everyone; how can the community fill in the gaps? Do you know someone in your circle that will only trust you to help them in receiving gifts, who do you see that needs help, do you know a way that you can help, let us know and we will do what we can to help you help others? If you know of someone who could use help but you aren’t sure how to help them, let us help you with the Gift sensitivity specialists to reach out to them. Together we will figure out a way.

FAQ’s

Who Does The Gift Benefit?

The Gift can benefit anyone in our community in a number of different ways. Over 150 organizations and between 20,000-30 000 people have received contributions from The Gift each year.

The Gift comes from community-wide contributions, and in turn, every Gift belongs to this community. Citizens from all walks of life across Chatham-Kent can give to and/or receive from The Gift and use it to make this holiday season brighter. This driving principle provides individuals and organizations with the unique opportunity to both help and get help; often doing so in a more dignified, human way. It could be your neighbor choosing something from the collection to help a friend, that only they know is struggling this holiday season, The Gift can make a difference for this community in a countless number of ways.
What is the Gift?

The Gift is coming together again this holiday season for all of us to share and shine our gifts.

On November 18th at Noon everyone in Chatham-Kent is invited to put a gift on their doorstep and a volunteer from their community will pick it up shortly after. All Gifts collected belong to the local community to do with as they see fit. This has resulted in many more people being reached each holiday season.

Food, toys, blankets, hygiene products: The Gift can truly be anything for anyone. Use your imagination! We welcome anything that you think would benefit someone this holiday season. If you’re feeling stuck we have tons of ideas listed on the homepage and on social media!
What is the Gift Timeline?

Now until November 17th: Spread the word! Invited everyone who wants to be a part of The Gift in some way!

November 18th: Community Collection Day, put a gift on your porch!

November 18th until the end of the holiday season: The community uses every resource available to make this holiday season as bright as possible. We will get the gifts to where they go the farthest!

January 1st and on: Continue to utilize the benefits of coming together, relationships built, and connections made to continue to build the community we want to see.
What day is the Community collecting?
Who organized the Gift?

You!  The Gift belongs to the communal purpose.  It is created and expanded by each person who decides to take it and be a part of it, Coming Together as a community.   It was created by the community, for the community, and with that no person has any more authority over it as another person.    Citizens of Chatham-Kent united for The May 16th Miracle in 2020 in response to COVID-19.  This Miracle grew into The Gift months later.

Come Together CK provides organizational support for The Gift.  This includes items such as the website and governance of grants funds.

What is the difference about The Gift this year?

The beautiful thing about The Gift is no one knows what the citizens of Chatham Kent will create.  It depends on who gets involved and what they do.

With that being said, CK gets more involved and it grows every year using the strengths of each person involved!  We are starting to see the fruits of our labour!  This is 5th time we have done this and each year CK brings us to a new height, getting more people involved and contributing in greater ways. We’ve seen areas of growth even in the last year, with our youth and businesses Coming Together and building on their involvement.
This sounds similar to The May 16th Miracle. Is it?

Yes. On May 16, 2020, the largest food drive in history took place in Chatham-Kent thanks to the incredible support of the entire community. A total of 678,200 pounds of food was collected! The one-day event provided much-needed items for the various food banks while bringing members of the community together with one common goal and purpose. This event is similar but with gifts of all types being collected. This is inspired the movement of The Gift that this community created and continues to the momentum.
How is The Gift different than previous years?

Many feel we have the opportunity to go farther and reach more people. After everything we have learned, how can we come together even more?

We realize the potential so many have when unleashed and how good it feels when they/we do. Many people “in need” actually have so much to give and the best gift they can get is the ability to let their gifts shine.
Many believe that we can hear even more of the voices for the needs in Chatham-Kent so that we can make our gifts go even further than we put out. What could lift the lonely senior? A personal gift certificate for a driveway shoveling for someone that just had surgery? The opportunity for a young boy to shop for his siblings?

We also have learned that this is a movement about being and coming together. So how can we make it even more of a celebration throughout but especially on Nov 18th?
How Can I Participate?
Any way! From helping plan the whole event to liking one social media post, everyone is trusted to select their role. Everyone’s’ contributions are equal. We work together to help each other choose which role suit us.
- Become a Community Captain – facilitate volunteers in your community with other community captains
- Become a Depot Captain – help with distribution of the gifts after collection day
- Volunteer with collecting items on November 18th
- Volunteer with sorting following November 18th
- Spread the message to family, friends and neighbours through sharing social posts, talking about it at family/friend gatherings
- Leave a gift on your porch on November 18th
- Donate a gift to the depots
- Volunteer for one of the many organizations reaching out to help as many people in our community as possible during the holiday season
- Anything you can think of to make this holiday season more special for everyone. It belongs to you as much as anyone, use the logo, the collective energy or fellow volunteers to do anything you feel called. It’s yours, so no permission is necessary!
- Others are here to support you if you need advice or help, let your heart guide you, just do it!