The Smiles of Children at Christmas

Conclusion of the Help put smiles on the faces of children at Christmas series

More community resources serving the underprivileged at Christmas and all year long

Welcome Hall Mission

Welcome Hall Mission had its annual Christmas party and were expecting over 2,000 families. Welcome Hall Mission has 4,000 families currently on their list. Just inside their doors, on Acorn Street reads the sign, "la canasta de navidad y los juguettes." Juguettes is the Spanish word for toys.

CTV news ran a segment on the happy faces of these little ones. Some of the children were immigrants spending their first Christmas in Canada. Their parents were overjoyed and some were quoted as saying they never expected anything like this.

Instead of having families line up a routine Christmas basket handout, Welcome Hall Mission went all out in celebration and put on a real party. There was lots of music, face painting for the children, food to be eaten on the spot and love, laughter, and smiles for all.

Welcome Hall Mission does not only operate at Christmastime, they work all year around. They provide 65 tonnes of goods to the needy each week. They help prepare income taxes and they provide a job search program giving people who are out of work the opportunity to sort food and clothing for their distributions. Welcome Hall Mission also has a thrift shop and recently it launched its Sisters of Heart program to provide, counselling, advise on going back to school, and baby formula for Montreal's pregnant youth.

We all remember the Welcome Hall Mission on St. Antoine street, dedicated to a homeless men's shelter. Now a new program to help the community is on its way, Welcome Hall Mission will team up with McGill University to provide a $300,000, state of the art dental facility for Montreal's Homeless.

Welcome Hall Mission has been a vital part of the Montreal Community for 118 years and it is still going strong.

The children of Montreal will have smiles on their faces this Christmas!

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Happy Kwaaza or another other holiday you celebrate this year end.

Source

http://montreal.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20101108/20101108_SpiritofGiving/20101108/?hub=MontrealHome