Gift donations bringing joy to older adults over the holidays
Friendly Manitoba is living up to its name this holiday season with some residents spreading holiday cheer to Manitobans living in care homes.
For the last 14 years, Home Instead Winnipeg has been organizing the ‘Be a Santa to a Senior’ program, an initiative that delivers gifts to isolated older adults living in the community.
“Over the years we’ve delivered over 35,000 gifts and we really hope to reach our goal of 40,000 gifts this year,” said Julie Donaldson, owner of Home Instead Winnipeg.
She said Home Instead works with A & O Support Services to provide the program -- A & O delivers gifts to older adults who live independently and Home Instead delivers to older adults living in care homes.
Donaldson said there is a strong need for gifts and donations this year compared to past years, especially as the fourth wave of COVID-19 is forcing some care homes to restrict visits from family members.
“I know this is the first year (since the pandemic) we can celebrate with our friends and family, and we still ask you to think about those older adults that are in personal care homes and are very likely not to have a visit this year,” she said.
Donaldson said popular gifts are things like coloring books, Sudoku puzzles, socks, blankets and toiletry items, as well as things of comfort like stuffed animals.
“We love to get the handmade Christmas cards from families and children to go along with them, because those messages that are delivered to those older adults, it just really brings them joy on Christmas day,” Donaldson said.
Anyone can donate a gift or cash by heading to the A & O website.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Doctors say capital gains tax changes will jeopardize their retirement. Is that true?
The Canadian Medical Association asserts the Liberals' proposed changes to capital gains taxation will put doctors' retirement savings in jeopardy, but some financial experts insist incorporated professionals are not as doomed as they say they are.
Something in the water? Canadian family latest to spot elusive 'Loch Ness Monster'
For centuries, people have wondered what, if anything, might be lurking beneath the surface of Loch Ness in Scotland. When Canadian couple Parry Malm and Shannon Wiseman visited the Scottish highlands earlier this month with their two children, they didn’t expect to become part of the mystery.
Fair in Ontario, flurries in Labrador: Weather systems make for an erratic spring
It's no secret that spring can be a tumultuous time for Canadian weather, and as an unseasonably mild El Nino winter gives way to summer, there's bound to be a few swings in temperature that seem out of the ordinary. From Ontario to the Atlantic, though, this week is about to feel a little erratic.
What do weight loss drugs mean for a diet industry built on eating less and exercising more?
Recent injected drugs like Wegovy and its predecessor, the diabetes medication Ozempic, are reshaping the health and fitness industries.
He replaced Mickey Mantle. Now baseball's oldest living major leaguer is turning 100
The oldest living former major leaguer, Art Schallock turns 100 on Thursday and is being celebrated in the Bay Area and beyond as the milestone approaches.
What a urologist wants you to know about male infertility
When opposite sex couples are trying and failing to get pregnant, the attention often focuses on the woman. That’s not always the case.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Iran's judiciary confirms rapper Toomaj Salehi death sentence
Iran's judiciary confirmed the death sentence of well-known Iranian rapper Toomaj Salehi but added that he is entitled to a sentence reduction, state media reported on Thursday.