COCHRANE— The Cochrane Pregnancy Care Centre’s Baskets of Joy program was a great success this year, thanks to the generous spirit of the Cochrane community.
More than 30 families will receive their own Basket of Joy from the service thanks to the donors involved this year.
The Basket of Joy program connects donors with clients of the Cochrane Pregnancy Care Centre, to give them gift baskets of much needed items just a few days before Christmas.
Suzaan De Kok, client services manager at the Cochrane Pregnancy Care Centre, said the response this year has been overwhelming.
“We have had an overwhelming response this year from our community, even though its been a hard year with COVID. We even had a 13-year-old girl respond by her mom, and she sponsored a family with her own money. It was such a joy to see her drop off the basket with her mom,” she said. “It was awesome seeing her beautiful heart in the way that she gave.”
The program saw so many responses that the Pregnancy Care Centre could not house all of the gifts, and partnered with the Bow Valley Baptist Church to store the baskets.
The clients in-need, identified by the Centre, are asked for a list of items they need, as well as some of their preferences as well.
“Sometime clients are a little hesitant to ask for stuff, so there wish lists have a lot of room for imagination. The families that sponsor them just take it and go with it,” De Kok said.
The Centre asks the clients for a list of things, including their favourite colours, activities they enjoy doing together, their shoe sizes, clothing sizes and more specialty items to ensure each client gets exactly what they need, and things that they want.
Certain families required things for special needs children, like weighted blankets, which are also included in the baskets, De Kok said.
She noted that the families who donate the baskets are often just as excited as those who receive them.
“It is such a joyful thing to give. Last week when the donors dropped off the gift baskets, it was so beautiful to see them thank us for giving them the opportunity to give,” she said.
COVID-19 has made things difficult for a lot of families, and to see such a huge response in such a difficult year is particularly uplifting, she said.
“There have been a lot of people who have lost their job and are unable to provide for their families in the day to day, never mind Christmas gifts … It’s been a tough year for pretty much all of us whether it’s been emotionally and financially, or with mental health,” she said. “I think this displays the heart Cochrane as a community … It’s an awesome town with a huge heart, giving even though it’s tough.”
