Winnipeg veteran camping out for 10 days to give people the kind of Christmas 'we all deserve'
Trevor Sanderson, 54, sleeping in ice-fishing tent to raise donations for holiday dinner
Trevor Sanderson is camping out in Winnipeg for 10 days, braving the cold to raise donations and give more people the opportunity to have the kind of Christmas he says "we all deserve."
Sanderson, 54, is hosting a Christmas dinner on Dec. 14, free for anyone who wants to attend, at the Ukrainian Labour Temple on Pritchard Avenue.
But to prepare the meal and host a Santa Claus toy giveaway, the military veteran is raising donations by sleeping in a pop-up ice-fishing tent at the corner of Higgins Avenue and Main Street.
"I'm doing this straight out of love," Sanderson said, noting the dinner is an opportunity to help his own community.
Before joining the military, he experienced homelessness and dealt with alcohol addiction, like many of those living in the area where his camp is set up. As a result, Sanderson said he feels a kinship with them.
"It's sad to see the way some of the neighbourhoods have delinquished over the last few years and the division happening to everybody," he said.
"Our country is about being together. It's about community.… This is my way of trying to bring some of that back."
Sanderson has been camping at the corner since Dec. 4 and intends to stay there until Dec. 14, sleeping inside the tent and keeping warm with a portable heater and military sleeping bag.
"This is what I am willing to do for my community. I'm not big on words, I am big on actions," Sanderson said.
The reception to his donation efforts has been "unbelievable," he said, with food and toys pouring in since the start of his camping stretch.
By Sunday, drop-off food donations had filled six plastic barrels, giving volunteers almost everything they needed to cook the Christmas dinner that is expected to host about 400 people. Any surplus food will be donated.
Terry Tanner has spent some afternoons with Sanderson. During that time, he's seen how even those with little to spare have given what they can. That has been an "eye-opening" experience for him, he said.
"There was a man that was collecting change for his next meal. He reached into his pocket and gave Trevor a handful of change," Tanner said.
Tanner helps with storing food and sorting through toys, encouraged by the idea of seeing a child's face when receiving a present from Santa Claus at dinner.
"What Trevor's doing is for a great cause," he said. "It just reminds you that humanity is still alive."
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