‘A very worthy cause’: P.A. holiday campaign gathers final donations

The wrapped up for the holidays clothing donations campaign has finally gathered all its donations for this holiday season. Jasmine Pelletier reports.

The wrapped up for the holidays clothing donation campaign has finally gathered all its donations from this holiday season to take to the Salvation Army.

“Just blankets. That’s all we wanted,” said Lyle Karasiuk, director of media relations for Parkland Ambulance. “We blossomed into clothes and boots and whatever people give us. And we’re so grateful for it each and every year.”

For nearly 20 years the wrapped up for the holidays campaign has collected donations for those in Prince Albert who may need a little extra help during the winter season.

“Larger donations that mostly that’s the handmade stuff,” said Gateway Mall general manager Sharon Faul. “People, you know, throughout the summer, throughout the fall, they do some knitting, some crocheting, and they make knits, they make toques, they make scarves.”

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The collection looked a little different this year.

Faul says there were kids’ games and toys in some of the donation boxes.

“We were like, well, that’s great. That’s great. We can find a new organization to donate those to. But of course, the community was so generous. Again, we literally put up the bin and we had it full within the first few days.”

The drop-off locations were Anderson Motors, Gray’s Funeral Chapel, Parkland Ambulance and The Gateway Mall.

Garry Gottfried, office administrator for Gray’s Funeral Chapel says it’s a good way to be involved in the community.

“I had seen this last year. I thought, well, that’s another great opportunity to get involved. So, I gave Lyle a call and just to see what was involved.”

This year Gray’s Funeral Chapel decided to hop on board with the campaign and became the fourth drop off location.

“I imagine we’ll be part again next year,” said Gottfried. “It’s a very good initiative that they’re running. A very worthy cause.”

The campaign raises donations for different charities each year.