900 Christmas wishes come true in Thunder Bay area
By Rick Garrick
THUNDER BAY—The 10th Annual Dilico Anishinabek Family Care Christmas Wish Campaign was a success with about 900 Christmas Wish bags filled for babies, children and youth in Thunder Bay and the Northern Superior Region. Dilico has now distributed about 5,000 Christmas Wish bags over the past decade.
“900 Wish bags — that is truly incredible,” says Darcia Borg, executive director of Dilico Anishinabek Family Care. “One of the best gifts we can give to children is to experience the gift of joy during the holidays, so thank you so very much to the community and the District of Thunder Bay for helping make Christmas that much brighter for the children. Thank you so much to the businesses and organizations for helping Dilico fill these bags and bringing a smile to children during the holiday season.”
Borg also emphasized the volunteer efforts of the St. Patrick High School Grade 12 drama students, who supported the Christmas Wish Campaign over the past four years during their annual holiday theatre production.
“We are once again so thrilled to have the St. Patrick High School Grade 12 drama class partner with us and collect donations in bags at their annual holiday play, this year being Christmas in the Land of Oz,” Borg says. “The students also filled 40 bags.”
Borg also thanked the Intercity Shopping Centre for housing the Christmas Wish Campaign’s booth for drop-offs and pick-ups.
“Our elves were at Intercity Shopping Centre every Thursday and Saturday, which was so important for the campaign’s success,” Borg says.
Borg adds that the Bargain Shop also supported the Christmas Wish Campaign.
“We always get so much support from the Bargain Shop and it is so appreciated, with 10 per cent of all the sales supporting the Dilico Christmas Wish Campaign,” Borg says. “They filled two full sleighs with toys to help us fill even more bags this year. Meegwetch Bargain Shop.”
Other major contributors to the Christmas Wish Campaign were Sovereign Dental, which sponsored the Christmas Wish bags; Unifor; Erickson and Partners; Grant Thornton; and the Holy Family School.
“It was an opportunity to partner with Dilico to make sure that as many kids as possible had a great Christmas,” says Derval Clarke, owner of Sovereign Dental. “It was an opportunity that could not be refused. It’s really good reach for our community dollars. There are a lot of things you can do in the community but very few events have this far of a reach and an impact — we are going to affect 900 kids.”
Clarke adds that he filled a Christmas Wish bag in addition to sponsoring the bags.
“The beauty of the bags is this — each kid tells us what they want,” Clarke says. “Obviously, you don’t have to get everything on that list, but it’s an opportunity to give a child a gift that they actually want. And we have done this for about 900 kids. My kid liked Lego, so I had to go to Toys R Us and pick up a Lego set. I was quite surprised at the cost of Lego sets, I don’t have any children so it was surprising, but I was able to give that child a Lego set which he wanted.”
Christmas Wish participants were also encouraged to fill the bags with essentials such as socks, mittens, books, learning supplies and toothbrushes.
“We often forget that this is a very hard time of the year for many,” Borg says. “Those that contributed will ensure that children wake up with a gift and a smile on Christmas morning.”