York Region volunteers rally to help young moms, kids

‘We squeeze those dollars best we can’

Yorkregion.com
Dec. 18, 2014
By Lisa Queen

Even though a snowstorm prevented Santa from making a visit to Rose of Sharon Services for Young Mothers last week, his “elves” made sure single moms and their children will find gifts under the tree this year.

For the past 14 years, staff from York Region’s community and health services and Emergency Medical Services have signed up for payroll deductions to make sure clients turning to some York Region social service agencies will enjoy holiday cheer.

This year, they collected $4,120, used to buy toys, food, clothing, backpacks, household items and small appliances, which are delivered to the organizations by paramedics.

Usually, Santa joins the paramedics at Rose of Sharon on Eagle Street in Newmarket to visit with the mothers and their children.

But for the first time, he wasn’t able to make it due to the Dec. 11 snowstorm.

The moms are collecting their gifts this week.

Although Jolly Old St. Nick was absent, the paramedics plowed an ambulance through the snowdrifts and then formed a line, passing item after item into the agency.

“We’ve been doing it for multiple years,” Natalie Kedzierski, superintendent of community paramedicine and research with EMS, said.

“(We do it) to give back to our community.”

In addition to Rose of Sharon, paramedics and York Region staff collected gifts for clients at Yellow Brick House, Blue Door Shelters, the Salvation Army and the Newmarket Youth Centre.

“It’s getting bigger every year. We do this because we like to give back to the community,” said organizer Ann Lavhey, an accounts clerk with EMS.

“We take that money and we go out and shop (for clients). We squeeze those dollars as best we can. We give whatever the centres need. They give us their want list.”

Young moms are thrilled with the donations because it means they can provide a Christmas for their youngsters, Rose of Sharon event co-ordinator Leah Walker said.

“The day the moms pick up their baskets, there are a number of them in tears because they’re just so overwhelmed. They know they couldn’t buy these things for their kids on their own,” she said.

“They want to give their kids a special day. They want it to be nice and fun and exciting and the community lets them do that.”

The regional employees make sure the children get toys that are of special interest to them and also ensure the moms get something for themselves, Walker said.

The baskets can also include items such as diapers, clothes, boots and food, she said.

After dropping off gifts at Rose of Sharon and the Newmarket Youth Centre, the paramedics headed over to a storefront at the Newmarket Plaza where Salvation Army volunteers were sorting donations.

They delivered presents for 12 families.

The gifts are welcome in a community where poverty is often hidden, Ray Varkki, the Salvation Army’s director of community and family services for Central York Region and South Simcoe County, said.

“It’s interesting, in a community as affluent as this, the poor, the working poor, they struggle to pay rent and their bills but there’s nothing left for Christmas,” he said.

“Versus the people living on the streets in Toronto, (poverty here) is not visible.”