By Charles Lefebvre

Rotary Club stuffs stockings to help seniors at Christmas

Dec 4, 2017 | 3:36 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB — The Rotary Club of Medicine Hat spent its meeting on Monday preparing to help senior citizens have a happy holiday season.

The club stuffed more than 200 stockings during its Christmas lunch meeting at the Medicine Hat Lodge, which will end up in the hands of residents living in seniors’ residences owned by the Cypress View Foundation and people at the Carmel Hospice in St. Joseph’s Home.

Local club president Karen Blewett says the idea for the campaign came for a Rotary International conference she attended last year.

“We talked about doing things such as more hands-on projects,” she said. “Instead of just having a Christmas lunch, (we wanted) to actually do a project and do something good in the community at the same time.

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“Our Rotary Club does a lot in the community already, but this is an opportunity to marry the two together, to have fun with friends and family, and then to actually do a good project in the community.”

Members formed a line to grab the stockings, filling them with activity books, personal hygiene products such as soap and toothbrushes, chocolate, a Christmas card and a stuffed animal.

Blewett says the club focused on seniors for the campaign as they are sometimes overlooked during the holiday season.

“There’s a lot of very worthwhile things going on with the Food Bank and the Santa Claus Fund for children, so we thought we would do something a little different,” she said. “With those at the senior (centre), sometimes they’re lonely, and things like that. As well as the hospice, people might not always think of them at this time of the year.”

Blewett says the club will deliver the stockings to the residents on December 18.