Laid-off Hornepayne, Ont. families to receive Christmas dinner baskets

Superior Morning5:06Hornepayne - Christmas Dinner

Christmas dinner for 120 families. Amanda Drury is a Hornepayne woman who is hoping to put a Christmas basket together following the layoffs at the lumber mill in the town.

People inHornepayneare pulling together to make sure everyone is well fed this Christmas.

Nearly half of the workforce inHornepayneis without a job and there are concerns the layoff announced at the lumber mill almost two weeks ago could become permanent.

• Hornepaynelumber mill shutdown 'devastates' residents
• Hornepayne Lumber mill shutdown has community on edge

But a campaign is underway to raise money and collect food to make hampers so that every family in the community has a Christmas dinner.

One of the organizers, Amanda Drury, says everyone was feeling helpless in the situation.

"There really wasn't anything set up at that point. So we we just said, 'What can we do that would help?' And we thought that providing this dinner for everyone would ... send a message to them that we care and that we're here for them," she said.

Drury said people in nearby communities such as Hearst, White River and Wawa are also reaching out, to see if they can help.