Secret Santas invite local knitters to try their hand at fiddle muffs
WILLIAMS LAKE – During her mother’s stay at the residential care facility in Williams Lake, Brenda Thompson became aware that some of the other residents of Deni House had very few visitors, while others had none at all.
Statistics tell us that isolation and loneliness are widespread among elders, but until you experience it first hand, it can be hard to fathom. “It was especially heartbreaking around the holidays,” Brenda recalled. “These are the people who paved the path for us to have the things we have today,” she said. “They should be treated like the treasures they are, and they shouldn’t have to feel lonely.”
When she read online about a group who created gift baskets for seniors during the holidays, she immediately knew she wanted to do that for the residents of Deni House.
Despite being on a fixed income herself, in 2014 Brenda and a couple of friends gathered enough items to make two Christmas gift baskets. “We learned that two new souls had arrived in care at Deni House right at Christmas time,” explained Brenda. So, the ladies split the bags into four, to make sure those newcomers got a little something; a welcome and Christmas gift combined. “We weren’t there to see their reaction, but staff at Deni House told us they were like kids in the candy store and over the moon with excitement.” Thus began a wonderful tradition.