WATCH: Children of Christmas Past aims to cheer up the holidays for senior citizens who have little to no family.
TORONTO – For more than a decade, Jill Harrington and her team of volunteers at Children of Christmas Past, have been making Christmas morning brighter for the young at heart.
“Children of Christmas Past is a program I started for seniors alone at Christmas,” said Harrington, the founder of the organization.
Harrington got the idea for the organization in 1999 when she was visiting a long-term care facility and noticed seniors outside their rooms all dressed up. When she asked why, the answer she received was heartbreaking; they’re hoping for visitors that would never come.
That moment changed Harrington’s life, opening her up to a community she realized she had forgotten.
The charity reaches out to different facilities between Niagara and Orangeville. Then, each senior is asked what they would like for Christmas, rather than a generic gift. All specifics are listed on gift tags prepared by volunteers, placed on trees, then delivered to participating businesses.
Gifts are then purchased by donors and returned with the tag to Harrington’s home, which remains the headquarters for this entire operation.
“So on any given day in December, I could have 500 to 1000 gifts dropped off on the front porch,” said Harrington.
However, this is so much more than a gift. It’s about letting a senior know they’re still part of the community.
“It reminds them that they’ve been thought of,” said Lorainne Ledwex, administrator of the Brant Centre senior residence. “It reminds them that people in the community are still respecting them, it’s really important.”
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