Sun Valley Honda general manager Denny Coulombe and sales manager James Ferland are ready for donations for the women's shelter.--SUBMITTED PHOTO
mcranker@medicinehatnews.com@mocranker
The Medicine Hat Women’s Shelter Society has brought back its Adopt-a-Family program for the Holiday Season.
“Historically we would match families at our shelter with sponsors,” said shelter executive director Natasha Carvalho. “We’ve done this for many years and have served over 100 families in that time.
“This is a popular program and it’s really important to us.”
Just like everything else this year, rolling out the program took extra planning and a bit of modifying to make it happen.
“With all of the restrictions this year, we’re trying to keep everyone safe,” said Carvalho. “This year we’re asking people to donate toys or gift cards – we have lists up on our website.
“We’re going to get all of the donations set up in a room and a parent or guardian will be able to come by and create a hamper with items they and their kids would like. We’re also going to make sure they get a grocery gift card.”
Sun Valley Honda and Davis GMC are drop-off locations and will accept donations on behalf of the shelter during business hours.
Carvalho says people escaping a bad situation can’t plan for the Holidays.
“People often leave so much of their stuff behind to get out,” she said. “It’s the last thing on their mind, but we’ve had families show up on Christmas Eve. If there’s kids at the shelter or showing up at the shelter, we want them to know that Santa is still around.”
Carvalho says it has been a busy year for the shelter.
“We’ve seen a lot of people during the pandemic,” she said. “This is always a busy time of year.”
People are able to e-transfer money to the shelter by sending money info@mhwss.ca
