Times are tight, Tanya says, and even essentials are becoming hard for her to afford.
“I feel like all I do is work and it’s still tight,” Tanya said.
A single mother of two daughters, Tanya works full time but struggles to afford everything she and her kids need amid the rising cost of gas, groceries and just about everything else.
“Everything just keeps going up in price except salary,” she said.
“It’s hard to feed them healthy. Everything that’s killing them is affordable.”
The kids will spend Christmas Day with their father, who lives outside Quebec, so Tanya, the girls and other members of the family will celebrate Christmas a week early.
“It’s something they look forward to,” she said.
This year, Tanya will be one of the thousands of Montrealers in need to receive a $125 cheque from the Montreal Gazette Christmas Fund. The fund helps make the holidays a little easier for those in tough situations.
With winter approaching, Tanya said her daughters, 8 and 9, have outgrown last year’s jackets. She said she’ll use the cheque to give each daughter a new snowsuit, which she’ll gift them as part of their early Christmas celebration.
She’ll also give them hats and mittens.
“Kids lose everything, so maybe two of each.”