At a glance, you may think this is Santa’s secret warehouse but it’s not.
It’s a warehouse full of gift baskets for women in need and it all began 12 years ago by Shelley Porritt.
“I saw a need for the women in the shelters. I’ve volunteered in the past,” said Porritt. “I realized there are a lot of women during the holidays that don’t have anything…and I thought they deserve something too.”
The drive started in Shelley’s basement with friends and family.
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It has now grown to have more than 600 volunteers, sorting and preparing donated items to be packaged in more than 2,500 baskets for 50 women’s shelters across the GTA.
“For some women these would have been the only gifts that they receive,” said Carla Neto, Manager at YWCA Women’s Shelter in Toronto. “It means that someone actually remembers them. It means they’re not forgotten.”
An important part of the Annual Gift Basket Drive is the dedication and energy of the volunteers who devote countless hours of their time making Christmas extra special for someone else.
“I think that everybody puts their whole heart into each basket that they make,” said Gwen Axelrod, a volunteer. “Most of us just go to work every day and we do our jobs and you do them well, but this has some value to it that you just can’t get every day.”
For more information about the Annual Gift Basket Drive click here.
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