US online retail giant Amazon offered first-class delivery of Christmas baskets and children's toys in Winnipeg on Saturday.
Dozens of volunteers braved sub-zero temperatures to load baskets and gifts into R.B. Russell, which will be delivered to more than 200 families as part of the annual Ma Mawi Whi Chi Itata Christmas drive.
Amazon donated $5,000 to Ma Mavi to buy about 700 gifts for children as part of a promotion to celebrate her 24th birthday.
NICOLE BUFFY/FREE PRESS
Volunteers from US online retail giant Amazon delivered the hampers to families on Saturday morning.
“Our goal is to help and support the community as much as possible,” said Hassan Oyelaja, operations manager for Amazon Manitoba. “We’re always looking to donate and do things like that, especially around the holidays.”
Ma Mavi volunteers spent the morning filling boxes with all the items for the holiday meal, then loading them into Amazon vans and volunteer vehicles to deliver to families.
According to Ma Mavi's program support director Marion McKenzie, the need for children's toys has only increased in recent years.
“We see the number of kids changing and the number of toys we pack each year getting a little larger,” McKenzie said. “It's always difficult to realize that parents need extra help, so we were pleased to partner with Amazon on this issue.”
In November 2024, Campaign 2000, a non-profit organization advocating to end child poverty, released a report showing Manitoba had the highest rates of child poverty among youth under 18 and youth under six. Winnipeg Center was ranked as the federal city with the highest child poverty rate.
The report found that 41.6 per cent of First Nations children in Manitoba live in poverty.
Part of Ma Mavi's philosophy is to prioritize children in its programming, McKenzie said. The increased need to serve children has prompted the organization to expand its budget, but the goal of serving youth remains at the forefront.
NICOLE BUFFY/FREE PRESS
More than 200 hampers were delivered to families in need on Saturday morning as part of the annual Ma Mawi Whi Chi Itata Christmas drive.
“This is what we Indigenous people do,” she said. “When families are in crisis and need help, that's what we do. It's just a natural way of doing the job.”
Volunteers like John have been helping Ma-Mavi for more than 15 years, including three years during the Christmas hamper drive.
“It feels good,” said John, who declined to give his last name. “Seeing toys and stuff being given to children. It's a nice feeling.”
Nicole Buffy
Multimedia Producer
Nicole Buffy, reporter Free press city office. Born and raised in Winnipeg, Nicole graduated from Red River College's creative communications program in 2020 and worked as a reporter throughout Manitoba before joining Free press newsroom as a multimedia producer in 2023. More about Nicole.
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