It’s a wrap: Volunteer Lethbridge helping with Christmas task

By Alejandra Pulido-Guzman - Lethbridge Herald on December 3, 2024.

Herald photo by Alejandra Pulido-Guzman Volunteer Lethbridge staff members and volunteers set up the gift wrapping station Monday morning at Canadian Tire South.

LETHBRIDGE HERALDapulido@lethbridgeherald.com

With Christmas shopping at full force, many find themselves needing a helping hand to wrap their presents and Volunteer Lethbridge is offering once again gift wrapping services.

This year staff and volunteers will be gift wrapping at Canadian Tire South from now until Dec. 23 and Volunteer Lethbridge evaluation manager Chelsea Eastman told the Herald that they can help people wrap their presents no matter how awkward the packaging is, or if they are not packaged at all.

“We put everything into a box, unless it’s already in a box, in which case we just wrapped that. But customers don’t have to worry about providing boxes, we have all that,” said Eastman.

 She said in the past they have wrapped some interesting items that required a little bit of ingenuity and were perhaps a little challenging, but they were able to get the job done.

 “One time we wrapped a vacuum that was not in a box, we have wrapped a ladder and a guitar. We wrapped some really interesting things. So, if it’s something really weird that you don’t want to wrap, feel free to bring it here and we’ll figure it out for you,” said Eastman.

They are located left of the front entrance, where Customer Service is located and Eastman said people can bring items that have been previously purchased anywhere, they do not need to be from Canadian Tire.

“Our hours are Monday to Sunday 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. When people drop off their items here, it’s highly recommended they bring their receipt if they have it, but it is not mandatory,” said Eastman.

 She said the process consist of dropping items with the cashier at the beginning of the line, they will measure the items and based on the cubic footage there will be a price for wrapping that can vary from $3 to $20.

“The most common gift wrapping price is between $3 and $8 and each gift wrapped comes with either the box if it’s needed, wrapping paper, curly ribbon, a bow, and if needed some gift sticker gift tags,” said Eastman.

She said they also offer some custom pricing based on cubic footage if items are very large, which is something that can be discussed when items are dropped off and measured.

“We measure the item, not the box. We measure the item and that goes into the box category size. But if we don’t have a box that size and we have to use a bigger one, we’re not going to charge extra,” said Eastman.

She explained that if there is availability on the spot, they will wrap items as they are dropped off, but if there is a queue items might take between 20 to 30 minutes to be ready.

“We have a tried and true process to making sure that we don’t make any mistakes for gifts, so you can be confident that you can leave your gifts with us and that’s what you’ll open up Christmas morning,” said Eastman.

When talking about volunteering for gift wrapping, Eastman said people can sign up online as they have shifts that still need to be covered.

“We invite all types of volunteers, all skills levels and ages to join us. Also, groups of any kind like teams, families, or corporate groups are welcome to sign up together. It offers a wonderful team activity,” said Eastman.