SUDBURY - After 50 years, the idea of Christmas giving at Our Lady of Hope Roman Catholic church in Gatchell has become such a strong tradition that it fits so well with the name of the church. Parishioners there have been bringing hope and goodwill to the patients of Kirkwood Place, the mental health and psychiatric treatment facility affiliated with North Bay Regional Health Centre.
Kirkwood Place is located on Kirkwood Drive, adjacent to Lake Ramsey in Sudbury.
The popular Giving Tree project, which has been in operation now for 50 years, has just been completed for another year, said long-time parish volunteer Josie McLaughlin.
McLaughlin is one of the volunteers that founded the Giving Tree project in Sudbury back in the day.
"So it was 50 years ago, I had an aunt who worked at the hospital. And at that time there would be little cottages up in that area for families with children," McLaughlin remembered.
"And she said, it's a shame at Christmas, all the children get gifts, but not the adults. We said, ‘gee that might be something to think about’."
McLaughlin brought to the idea of the church auxiliary group that year, as she was the president. The idea was adopted and in that first year, the women of Our Lady of Hope were able to bring 39 gifts to the adults in the hospital, said McLaughlin.
She said since then, the number of gifts in some years has been in the hundreds.
The premise for the project is simple, she said. Each year a Christmas tree is set up at the church and as parishioners attend mass, they can take a gift tag from the tree that has the description of an individual and a possible gift for that person.
The parish member then buys the gift and brings it back to the church where it is prepared and wrapped for the adult patient.
McLaughlin said the church volunteers who run the program meet with hospital staff to discuss what types of gifts might be appropriate for specific patients; things like T-shirts or socks or books. She said the gift list is screened so that no one buys anything that could be harmful to any patient.
"Or it could be a set of towels or tea towels," said McLaughlin. Although it sounds simple, it is the kind of thing that would mean a lot to some person.
She said the idea is to give the patient a sense that someone is thinking about them and cares enough to send a gift.
She added that in some years, parish members have bought more than one gift. McLaughlin said that works out nicely to ensure that no one is forgotten at the last minute; that there is a gift for everyone.
McLaughlin said she has already passed the torch to a new generation of parish volunteers and she had high praise for their good work.
Instead of writing the names of people and gifts on a set of old Christmas cards, she said the list is now compiled on a computer that makes everything faster and more convenient.
McLaughlin added that the program continues to work smoothly thanks to the efforts of younger volunteers and she was pleased with the success this year.
"Oh yes, it was fantastic. Every year it has been like that," she said.
"The people of the parish are most generous, yes," she added.
Len Gillis is a reporter with Sudbury.com.
