THUNDER BAY – It’s a day that Blythe Haynen calls one of the most special of the year.
Tuesday marked the official conclusion of Dilico Anishinabek Family Care’s Christmas Wish campaign, which brought in more than 800 wish bags that will be delivered to children across the Thunder Bay district, including in 13 First Nations communities.
Haynen, who is the assistant director of communications at Dilico, said that there’s always a high level of energy when the Christmas Wish campaign volunteers come in to pick up the wish bags.
“The children are so excited when they are looking into the bags and seeing what the community has built for them,” Haynen added. “It’s sort of overwhelming to be in a room where so many filled wishes are.
“There are so many wishes that stand out each year. For example, one of the wishes involved a bike, which had been stolen from the child. That’s here today and the staff member knew that they had to make some extra room for that when they picked him up.”
The Christmas Wish campaign, which encourages individuals, families, businesses and organizations to help fill bags for babies, children and youth, started in 2008.
Since it launched, a total of 9,800 bags have been filled for children in the district.
“This campaign has really become an annual tradition,” Haynen said.
“I worked a lot of the booths this year and I had so many people come up to me saying that they were excited to get their wish bags and fill them up every year.
“We have a lot of amazing people and sponsors that come back year after year. That interaction is special, especially with the families that do this with their kids and their grandkids.”
