Both the Queen Elizabeth II Hospital and the Lakeview seniors home in Clairmont are recipients of some extra special holiday cheer courtesy of WestJet’s annual Christmas Miracle.
In addition to WestJet coloured stockings filled with goodies; Lakeview residents were also surprised with blankets and non-perishable food items. At the QEII, some of the deliveries included children’s activity kits, earbuds, and non-perishable food items for the facility.
“We chartered an aircraft full of supplies directly to Grande Prairie to be able to highlight these two locations,” says Christina Clifford with WestJet.
“We had to pivot on multiple occasions to be able to address and adhere to restrictions tightening up, or just over changing environments’ we were in.”
Clifford says with life looking very different from years past, the company decided to go with a more practical approach to the annual gift-giving extravaganza. It saw them move away from dream items to items that be desperately needed.
“The reality is, these are everyday practical items that people need that we have available on hand. It just made sense, if we had a surplus of these items, inventory and this fleet that was parked, we thought what can we do to take all of these things and put them to good use.”
“They’re not extravagant items, but to us, it made the most sense to use these items and put them somewhere they can be put to the best use.”
Major Gifts Officer for the Grande Prairie Regional Hospital Foundation Dawn Miller says the recent donation is a thank you to all frontline healthcare workers for all that they do and have done this last year.
“2020 has been a year of ups and downs, triumphs and heartache…through all of this the resiliency of Albertans has shone through,” she says.
“WestJet is a shining example of this resiliency and generosity and the Grande Prairie Regional Hospital Foundation has been the recipient of this generosity not only this year but for many years now.”
Other agencies, and organizations across Alberta including, Inn from the Cold, Ronald McDonald House Charities Alberta, Calgary Health Foundation, Alberta Children’s Hospital, and the Calgary Women’s Emergency Shelter also received similar deliveries from WestJet.