A local woman is hoping to spread Christmas cheer to seniors in the community.
Ardmore resident Sandra Evans started Stockings 4 Seniors in the Bonnyville and Cold Lake area. The program aims to put a smile on people’s faces during the holidays.
After losing three of her parents within the span of three years, Evans wanted to participate in an initiative that would give presents to local seniors. To her surprise, she learned there weren’t any locally.
“I quickly discovered that there’s no such thing in this area at all, and I had phoned around with answers of ‘never heard of such a thing.’ So I decided, ‘well, let’s start one,’” she exclaimed.
Stockings 4 Seniors began in 2018. In its inaugural year, over 244 stockings were delivered across Bonnyville and Cold Lake.
Drop boxes were placed throughout both communities, where people could place unwrapped gifts for Evans to pick up and hand out. She played Santa Claus, along with volunteers, to hand out the gifts or deliver them to seniors’ facilities to be given out.
Evans reached out to the local seniors’ facilities to have those interested in receiving a stocking fill out a form so she could get to know them better.
“The first question on the application is ‘would you like to receive some Christmas joy?’ If it’s no, that’s cool. If it’s a yes, then there’s a bunch of questions to help me get to know them,” Evans outlined.
Individuals over the age of 65 who are low-income and don’t have a lot of family close by are on the nice list.
The program has expanded this year, with the addition of Christmas trees (drop-off locations) located at the Bonnyville and District Centennial Centre and the Cold Lake Regional Chamber of Commerce.
“The premise is the tag goes up (on the tree), someone takes a tag, and the senior’s wishes are on the tag. They shop for their senior, then they bring the unwrapped gift back in a bag with the tag in it, and then hopefully me and a whole bunch of elves will wrap them up and deliver them,” Evans detailed, adding she hopes to add more locations in the coming months.
Residents in local lodges, long-term care facilities, and Extendicare will be gifted stockings filled with gifts while seniors living in the community will be given items from the Christmas trees.
The stockings include gifts such as toiletries, candies, a Christmas orange, puzzles, and playing cards.
Evans is aiming to double the number of stockings she distributed last year, and this time around she’s not alone. Age Friendly Cold Lake has decided to pull up their socks and assist Evans with running the program this year.
Diane Stonehocker, chair of the society, said, “She did an amazing thing all by herself, and she’s such an enthusiastic go-getter… She isn’t afraid of hard work to get something done, and we just admire her desire and commitment to it.”
When the Age Friendly board heard about Stockings 4 Seniors, they knew it was a great fit for what they are trying to accomplish in Cold Lake.
“We started talking about Stockings 4 Seniors in general terms, and began to realize it fit with us. It also provided her with a level of protection because she was fundraising and acquiring gifts to give to seniors,” detailed Stonehocker. “We talked about how it was beneficial to both of us with a program that addresses isolation and there’s all sorts of benefits for her because it provides her with an umbrella of which to do her work.”
Although Evans hasn’t always made it home to visit her family for the holidays, she’s made a point of sending her parents gifts to let them know she was thinking about them.
“Even though families can’t be there, to know that they’re being remembered and thought of is huge,” Evans stressed.
Drop box and tree locations are still being ironed out, however, Evans plans to round the donations up on Dec. 15 before having the gifts wrapped and delivered for Dec. 23.
For more information, email [email protected] or visit them on social media.
