After all the support the local community has given the Moose Jaw Humane Society over the years, they’re now looking to do their part and help make the holidays that much brighter for Moose Jaw Transition House.
That’s what Giving Tuesday is all about, and the local animal shelter is taking the spirit of the day and extending it until just before Christmas.
The Humane Society will be collecting gently-used purses and filling them with items those using Transition House might not consider for themselves. The idea being that even a few bottles of nail polish, some body spray and nice socks might be enough to help make Christmas just a little bit better for someone who has found themselves in need of Transition House’s services.
“People can donate gently used purses, and if they want to donate new items, they can… just some things that would be nice and the ladies in those situations might not be purchasing for themselves,” said Amanda Tetarenko with the Moose Jaw Humane Society.
“The Transition House does a wonderful job of providing for them and takes care of their basic needs, so we wanted to go just a little bit above that and supply something that’s a little bit more of a luxury item.”
Rather than capping the project on the actual Giving Tuesday, which falls on Dec. 1 this year, donations will be gathered until sometime closer to Christmas and then given to the charity as gifts for their clients.
The list of things to be considered includes the aforementioned items along with hand cream, new costume jewellery, chocolates, notebooks, fabric masks, sanitizer, lip balm, nail files, gift cards and just about anything you’d think would be a nice fit for the project.
All items can be dropped off at the Humane Society, which is open from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to Friday and from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturdays.
Giving Tuesday is in its eighth year and is designed as a follow-up to Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
“It’s actually a global fundraising event, it takes place all over the world,” Tetarenko explained. “The idea is after those two days of get, get, get, get, Giving Tuesday is a day to give back, and it takes place the first Tuesday after Black Friday.”
The Humane Society took part in the event last year and bagged groceries at Safeway for a full day. With COVID-19 putting the kibosh on anything like that this time around, they decided something a little different would work out just as well -- and when the Transition House came up as an option, plans quickly fell into place.
As for the ‘why’ the Humane Society is doing this, well, you only have yourselves to thank.
“It’s a chance to give back to the community because they support us so well,” Tetarenko said. “We get a lot of support from the community and it’s fantastic, and by all means continue the support, but for Giving Tuesday we decided we would step back from asking for donations and turn toward helping others in the community.”
