Earlier this fall, Ashley Armstrong wasn’t sure if she would be able to host the annual Christmas Spirit for Seniors gift program in Moose Jaw due to the uncertainty of the pandemic, but the community has pulled through in making the campaign happen — and it’s evolving into something bigger.
Armstrong has organized the gift-giving campaign for five years running, where she collects donated gifts from the public to distribute to seniors in participating care homes who otherwise wouldn’t be receiving a gift during the holidays.
This year, after some serious thought and anxiety about how to administer the project safely during a pandemic, Armstrong is happy to announce that not only will the Christmas Spirit for Seniors event still be going forward, it will also be expanding to include Christmas Spirit for Critters, a new gift campaign in support of the Moose Jaw Humane Society.
“We’re a big town, not really a city, and I’ve always thought that people come together as soon as they find out they can help. They’re there in big ways and it’s pretty heartwarming and I’m proud to be from Moose Jaw,” said Armstrong.
She put together the new gift program for shelter animals weeks ago when it looked as though the seniors gift program wouldn’t be able to move forward, said Armstrong, but a change in circumstances has made both possible this year.
“The community is super engaged,” said Armstrong. “We weren’t going to do it, but the amount of people who were really pushing and saw the need for the senior’s program, I think it's important that a big thank you goes out to them.”
Armstrong shared the details for both programs, as well as the heart-tugging stories that inspired her to create them.
How to get involved
Christmas Spirit for Critters is a new version of Armstrong’s original gift campaign, inspired in memory of her nephew Chase who very recently passed away.
“He was an animal lover, beyond an animal lover, and he just had a heart for all sorts of animals,” said Armstrong. “When we couldn’t do the seniors [program], I wanted to honour his memory and make sure we gave the animals some extra love.”
People are invited to purchase an item from a wish-list of gifts — which includes things like pet food, blankets, toys, laundry detergent, and so on — or a gift card to Pet Value to donate to the Humane Society for the holiday season.
Once purchased, the items or gift cards can be dropped off at either Sahara Spa, Pet Value or at Gary Overs Kenneling & Obedience, where volunteers will later collect them to deliver to the Humane Society.
“Each location has a poster that has a wishlist of what the Humane Society would prefer, [and] it's just a list of things they need most,” said Armstrong. “We’re hoping these donations can offset some of their costs so they’re not using the funds from [big fundraisers] to purchase little things, so they can focus more of that money raised on medical health or other things like that.”
The Christmas Spirit for Seniors campaign will also be running simultaneously, in much the same way as previous years.
Anyone interested in taking part can stop by Sahara Spa to sign out a gift tag, each of which has a location code, the first name of a senior and a gift request.
Armstrong encourages people to add a few extra things to their gift, like warm slippers or candies, before wrapping the gift and returning it to Sahara Spa to be delivered by volunteers on Christmas Eve.
Anyone signing out a gift tag will have to leave a name and phone number, as well as follow all the COVID-19 safety precautions inside Sahara Spa while visiting.
The campaign was inspired by Armstrong’s late brother Craig, who was very passionate about supporting seniors.
“He had a huge heart for seniors,” said Armstrong. “I remember Christmases long ago where we always went to one of the care homes to visit our great-grandpa, and often times he would stop just to talk with other seniors if he saw them and they were alone. He just always wanted them to know people cared about them.”
Donated gifts and items for both campaigns have to be brought into the drop-off locations by Dec. 18, said Armstrong, which is a little earlier than usual but for good reason.
All of the donated items will be isolated for several days after Armstrong picks them up from the drop-off locations, to reduce the risk of exposure before she delivers them to their intended recipients.
Expanding the project for the future
The donated gifts have always been well received, said Armstrong, who worked with seven different care homes last year to deliver over 130 gifts to local seniors.
She’s hoping to fill just as many gift tags this year as well, as more care homes approach her to take part in the program it progress.
“None of these [senior] homes are anticipating that any of the families can come visit their loved ones at Christmas this year, so they’re trying to have these gifts there to have an actual Christmas party for the seniors,” Armstrong.
She’s grateful for Moose Jaw’s continued enthusiasm to keep the program going, especially as she feels this year is an important year to be running something like the Christmas Spirit programs.
“It means even more to me this year, with COVID and the financial struggles that a lot of people and businesses in our city have been struggling with, to see that they’re still putting a hand out [to others],” said Armstrong. “It's pretty incredible.”
If this year’s dual program goes well, Armstrong is already looking ahead and imagining keeping both holiday gift campaigns available.
With a Facebook group already set up for Christmas Spirit for Seniors, Armstrong is planning on creating a second group for Christmas Spirit for Critters so the community can choose which program — or both — to support.
