As the cold Lloydminster winter begins to set in, la Vie en Rose is stepping up with a donation of pajamas to the SPARK Foundation.
Read more: Festival of Trees gala a Christmas delight
The PJ Project initiative sees the company donate pajamas to local charitable organizations in an effort to spread the warmth.
“Our company donates 40,000 pajamas a year,” said Barb Grabowski, la Vie en Rose manager. “It’s nice that every store is able to pick a local organization to donate 96 pairs of pajamas to.”
Last year, la Vie en Rose donated the pajamas to the Thorpe Recovery Centre. They picked a different non-profit this year.
“We thought that every woman and child could do with a new pair of pajamas when in time of need,” said Grabowski. “It’s a great foundation that women can go to when they have a crisis come up in their life.”
Patty Milnthorp, SPARK’s community engagement liaison, was happy to receive the donation.
“Our organization is super grateful for this donation and it will be appreciated and loved and used, probably very quickly,” she said. “It’s a huge help; we go through so many pairs of pajamas.”
Pajamas give women in the shelter a little sense of comfort.
“Many times, ladies leave with just the clothes on their backs and the pajamas are comfortable, warm and cozy and help them somewhat settle into the shelter when they come,” said Milnthorp.
Whatever is donated, regardless of if someone can use it, directly benefits those in the shelter.
“If something comes in that they have no room to store at the shelter, we take it to the store (Brass & Thread), the store puts it on the floor and sells it,” she explained. “That doesn’t mean the money doesn’t go back to the ladies at the shelter. The ladies at the shelter are then provided a gift card where they can go back to the store and pick out what they want.”
SPARK is always accepting donations.
“We have huge wishlists for the shelter,” she said. “Hygiene products, LCYC (Lloydminster Community Youth Centre) needs socks, brand new socks.”
“All kinds of sizes of clothing. We’re doing holiday hampers right now and Rudolph’s Roundups. So, lots of gifts for teens, especially teen boys,”
Wrapping paper is another item the SPARK Foundation is always in need of.
“We wrap the mom’s gifts, but we do not wrap the kids’ gifts. We send the wrapping paper and bows and tags to the moms, so the mom can have that ability to wrap her own children’s gifts,” she said.
Anyone with questions can contact the SPARK Foundation through email, pa****@***************er.ca, or by phone, 780-808-5282.
Read more: PJs to comfort Thorpe clients in recovery
