As Christmas quickly approaches, community support is vital for families struggling to meet basic holiday needs. For many households, the season brings not only anticipation but also the pressure of providing a warm meal or a meaningful celebration for their children.
Across the Hamilton-Wentworth Catholic District School Board, an annual secondary school Halloween tradition is helping ease that burden these winter months.
For more than two decades, secondary students have traded in candy for non-perishables on Halloween night, joining the fight against food insecurity in their community as part of the Halloween 4 Hunger campaign.
Canvassing neighbourhoods throughout Hamilton, students go door to door collecting donations for local charities. This year, the tradition stretched from Stoney Creek through Central Hamilton into Ancaster, with participation from Bishop Tonnos Catholic Secondary School, St. John Henry Newman Catholic Secondary School, Bishop Ryan Catholic Secondary School, St. Thomas More Catholic Secondary School, St. Mary Catholic Secondary School, and Cathedral High School.
But long after the season of pumpkins and ghouls, the initiative continues to bring hope and dignity to households across the city, demonstrating how collective effort can spark meaningful change.
This year’s donations benefited places like the Stoney Creek Food Bank, Hamilton Food Share, Neighbour to Neighbour, the Good Shepherd, Ancaster Community Services, Regina’s Place, Wilma’s Place, the Cathedral Annex, and the SPCA.
At Bishop Tonnos, a portion of the collection is held back for the school’s Adopt-A-Family Christmas program, where recipients receive hampers filled with non-perishables, hygiene products and gifts for everyone in the family.
“We give with intention,” said Chaplaincy Leader Tina Fitzgerald, who added that students go through every donation to ensure each family is receiving purposeful items.
Just down the mountain, St. Mary Catholic Secondary School has a similar approach.
This year the school collected monetary donations and non-perishables for its Adopt-A-Family, as well.
“Through this initiative, we’re assisting families with donated food, gift cards for additional food, and new winter coats from the Knights of Columbus during this special time of year,” said Chaplaincy Leader Don Hall.
At Cathedral High School, newcomers are gifted Christmas baskets made up of food collected on Halloween night.
Outside of the Board, volunteers shared that contributions from HWCDSB schools continue to support hundreds of families.
Nicole Burton, Executive Manager for the Stoney Creek Community Food Bank, noted that they have seen a steady increase in patrons over the years.
“A few years ago, we served about 15 to 20 families a day.”
Today, the food bank sees upwards of 40 to 60 families daily. This past September, there was an increase of 6 percent.
Newman’s Halloween 4 Hunger campaign replenished close to 1,000 lbs of food for the food bank.
“We are doing our best to keep up. If we didn't have the support of community groups and schools, we wouldn't be able to function.”
Across the city at Neighbour to Neighbour, St. Thomas More’s contribution supports its largest food drive of the year.
“For almost 40 years, our team of dedicated staff and volunteers has been working to meet the issues of food insecurity and poverty head on,” said Jasmin Eng, a representative of the centre.
“We do this by providing emergency support to over 1,700 families each month.”
With winter and the Christmas season approaching, Neighbour to Neighbour is seeing rising demand for non-perishable goods. This year, the school’s 22,000 lbs donation has helped restock their shelves at a time when supplies are critically low, ensuring they can carry through to the holiday season.
As school wraps up this week, the spirit of generosity shown through Halloween 4 Hunger continues to shine, reminding us that as we prepare for the birth of Jesus, acts of compassion and service remain at the heart of the Christmas season.
