Cheer fund supports seniors

The Centre for Seniors Information will dedicate funds raised through the Christmas Cheer campaign to support Operation: Secret Santa for vulnerable seniors.

CSI Kamloops is one of three Kamloops non-profits that will share proceeds raised through the long-running Christmas Cheer Fund holiday campaign.

Operation: Secret Santa provides gifts to between 500 and 700 seniors in the community, delivered by volunteers and partner agencies. CSI Kamloops collects donations to create the gifts valued between $50 and $100 that include essentials such as soap, toothbrushes, ChapStick or socks.

Executive Director Brandi Allen started the program 11 years ago and says more donations mean more seniors will receive a gift.

Recipients include folks identified by CSI Kamloops or referred by community organizations. In the first year, Allen and her family delivered 75 gifts. In 2020, volunteers delivered more than 700 packages.

“2020 was our biggest year and I believe that had a lot to do with the overall isolation that a lot of people experienced,” Allen said. “In the beginning, I delivered every single package myself and the number of seniors that would cry and hug me and tell me, ‘You’re the only person that’s come here this year.’ That’s why I do it every year.”

CSI Kamloops still delivers a large portion of the gifts, but relies on other partner organizations to make deliveries, which doubles as an opportunity for the agencies to connect with vulnerable and often isolated seniors. That includes housing providers, Interior Health, and United Way.

“Seeing the demographic of people that I see and recognizing how detrimental isolation is to someone’s health, once you’ve experienced that, it’s so incredibly eye opening that you can never turn it off,” Allen said.

In rare cases where there are donations left over, Allen has started doing mid-year Secret Santa to connect with seniors. If support from the Christmas Cheer Fund significantly boosts the program, more seniors could potentially receive a mid-year Secret Santa gift and additional connection at crucial times of the year.

At London Drugs, customers can play Secret Santa by taking a senior’s wish list from the Christmas tree, purchasing the items on the list, and leaving the gift to be picked up and delivered by CSI Kamloops. They also welcome donations at the CSI location in Northills Mall.

Learn more about BC Interior Community Foundation's Christmas Cheer fund at a pop-up booth set up at Sacred Grounds in Royal Inland Hospital on Nov. 28, from 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.

Support the Christmas Cheer Fund: To donate online, click here.

Cash, cheque, credit and debit card donations can be made in person at the BC Interior Community Foundation, 2-219 Victoria St. (open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday to Friday). Cash or cheque donations can also be dropped oF at Castanet Kamloops, 102-635 Victoria St. (open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday to Friday).

As of Nov. 23, this year's donors include: