Stop the car – the Windsor Goodfellows are back

They wear green hats, brightly-coloured outfits and show up when the weather gets cold.

No, they are not Santa’s Elves. They are the dedicated volunteers for the Windsor Goodfellows club.

Throughout Windsor-Essex, hundreds of cold, cheerful faces dotted the intersections of busy streets Thursday and Friday this week and will continue to Saturday.

Dressed in their warmest clothing, waving newspapers in the air and leaning in to stopped cars, they were exchanging special edition Windsor Star newspapers for a donation.

“It just makes you feel good in the heart,” said Ron George, a 25-year volunteer with the Windsor Goodfellows. “You can’t put a price on a Goodfellow, it could be a penny, a nickel, it doesn’t matter.”

One of only two fundraising campaigns the Goodfellows hold throughout the year, the money raised goes directly back into the community to fund their three services offered to local residents. The Goodfellows supply food baskets at Christmas and throughout the year, provide shoes to children who are in need and make sure that no child skips breakfast at their breakfast program in nine local schools.

“Everything raised stays in this area,” said Mike Beaumont, a 20-year veteran with the Windsor Goodfellows and now a team leader.

“It always puts you in a Christmas spirit,” said Beaumont. “(We receive) a lot of thanks from people right at their cars because they’ve used it before when they’ve been in hard times. It’s really nice for the holidays, it puts you in the holiday spirit.”

So, the next time you see a brightly-coloured elf-like volunteer freezing in the streets and waving a newspaper in the air, the Goodfellows hope you stop and spare what you can to help them help local families this Christmas.