‘Shock to the system’: Magic of Christmas in search of new Calgary home after rent increase | 24CA News

A staple charity in Calgary is asking for the group’s assist in discovering a brand new dwelling after lease will increase compelled it out of its present residence.

Courtney Kane has been a volunteer with the Magic of Christmas for 13 years, beginning when she was simply 10-years-old.

“It means more than you can ever explain to someone in words,” Kane mentioned.

Every Christmas Eve, volunteers load up Calgary Transit buses with tons of of presents. Last 12 months they delivered presents to almost 3,800 folks.

“They tell us how much hope we have given them and how they were at a point in their lives where they didn’t think that they could have a Christmas and we were able to give them one and now they want to give that to other people,” mentioned Kane, who’s now the volunteer coordinator with the Magic of Christmas.

Volunteers with the Magic of Christmas at the moment are packing up from the warehouse area that they used to name dwelling.  They must vacate by March 31.

The charity had warehouse prices within the south finish of town utterly coated via a donation earlier than transferring to a location close to Edmonton Trail in northeast Calgary.

When that deal ended, they received the present place for $15,000 a month, however the landlord gave them an $8,000 donation each month. That deal got here to an finish when a brand new landlord took over.

“It’s quite a shock to the to the system,” mentioned Scott Perley, president of the Magic of Christmas.

He mentioned it’s been laborious for the charity to make lease funds of  $15,000  a month, contemplating they had been getting it without cost or half worth earlier than.

“We’re flexible. We have a little over 10,000 square feet here and that was tight.  If we want to visit more families, we need more space.  It’s a tough thing because we need a lot of space in October November and December and January and then the rest of the year we really don’t need a whole lot of  space,” Perley mentioned.

All the Magic of Christmas provides are in donated storage areas now with the assistance of Bluebird Self Storage and Secure–Rite.

The group is in search of discounted lease or warehouse they will lease for only some months of the 12 months.

“Maybe it means in January we pack everything up and put it in storage again, but for maybe those four months then we have a place to call home,” Perley mentioned.

“It means a different model of operating and we get a little more creative.”

This would be the fortieth 12 months of the Magic of Christmas in Calgary.

Last 12 months they visited greater than 800 households.

Perley calls his first 12 months volunteering with Magic of Christmas “an amazing experience.”

“You get to share with other people what Christmas means. I can help other people and I told my kids about it and they did it with me the following year, and now they do it with their fiancés as well. It’s Christmas for them. They know that Christmas Eve is with dad and with the Magic of Christmas,” Perley mentioned.

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