Christmas came early for some medical staff at the Campbellton Regional Hospital this week.
Frank Poirier, a local commercial property owner in Campbellton, loaded up his vehicle with 100 gift bags to be handed out to emergency and medical staff at the hospital.
“Just a thank you. This is enough to change their day and to give them another day at work being happy and a smile on their face,” said Poirier.
The gifts were delivered on Tuesday and Poirier said he came up with the idea after cancelling his annual Christmas party for his commercial tenants, which he thought was the safest option for everyone to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
“The next thing you know, we are back in phase orange — anything can happen,” he said.
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So he used his $4,000 party budget to buy gifts and gift cards from locally owned businesses that have been struggling to stay open amid the outbreak. He said they were all too willing to dig into their own pockets to help support his cause.
“Some of them I called and I said, ‘I will buy $400 in gifts cards,’ and they said, ‘I will give you five,” said Poirier
Aaron Ahier, who owns Smoke on the Water meat shop, called the initiative “a positive way to end the year.”
“People around here want to keep their money here, so hopefully moving forward it is something we see out of the pandemic, we continue to see,” he said.
Poirier said he hopes the gesture will brighten the days of health-care workers, who he says have not had it easy.
“People get mad because they have to wear a mask and they have to deal with everyone’s temper during this pandemic,” said Poirier.
He says medical staff should be appreciated now more than ever and he hopes others will show their support, too.
“I would like people just to do little things, you know. Just send them a card, send them a text, send them an email,” he said.
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