LITTLE CURRENT—There was a hint of the Christmas spirit in the gym at Little Current Public School (LCPS) this past Wednesday when three Manitoulin organizations received donations that had been collected over two years of the kids-only Christmas Shopping Spree.
The students raised over $1,000 during the past two years of the event and chose to give $350 each to Manitoulin Family Resources, Manitoulin Pet Rescue and the Manitoulin Centennial Manor.
“This supports the whole idea of giving as opposed to getting gifts. It flips it around so they think about others and their needs,” said Grade 3 teacher Christine Craig. Her students were the main co-ordinators of the event alongside help from Grade 7 teacher Casey Boisvert whose students helped the younger children make their selections and wrap their gifts.
“We tried to spread around the donations rather than just giving to one organization,” said LCPS principal Christy Case. This past year’s event raised twice as much as the first year and Ms. Case said the community has been very generous in donating items for the children to purchase.
“This was a lovely surprise from the kids,” said Manitoulin Pet Rescue treasurer Holly Scott. “This money will be used for the care of abandoned, stray, abused or needy pets without homes.”
The funding from LCPS will be used to pay for essentials such as medical care, food and grooming so that the animals in their care can be adopted by families. Previously, all owner-less pets in crisis had to be taken to Sudbury. Now, this all-volunteer operation serves an estimated 100 dogs and 100 cats per year on Manitoulin.
In a similar manner, the Manitoulin Centennial Manor will be using its funding for resident programming with a pet focus.
“We’re about 90 percent sure that we’ll be getting another one of the robotic dogs and quite possibly another iPod mini for the Music and Memory program. Those are two items I definitely need,” said Julie Omnet, activity director at the Manitoulin Centennial Manor.
The Manor runs a pet therapy program with two robotic cats and one robotic dog that simulate the experience of having an animal companion. The Music and Memory program is a worldwide initiative that provides people living with Alzheimer’s and dementia a personalized iPod full of their favourite songs. The presence of music has been shown to have life-changing effects on these patients.
“This donation was quite a surprise. We’re very happy. I’ve been having the Grade 6 students coming in for the last few years with Mrs. Gray and doing an interactive program with the residents. That’s how that developed and why they decided to donate to the program,” said Ms. Omnet.
Amanda Roy accepted the third donation on behalf of Manitoulin Family Resources. Ms. Roy is the Little Current child care supervisor for the organization and works in the public school.
“We’re very grateful at the generosity of the school and we think that the school fundraiser is an amazing way that helps out kids and local organizations. Kids really love the shopping spree and the fact it goes back into the communities is an amazing project for schools to take on,” she said.
With all the excitement over the past two years’ fundraising efforts, the final question that remains is how the school will find a way to top their efforts in the coming year.
