A letter from Wendy Oliver-McKenzie, Activity Convenor and Charlotte Jordan, Recreation Therapist, Carewest Garrison Green

We are from Carewest Garrison Green a 200 bed facility in SW Calgary we are part of the Recreation Team. Being part of Recreation is really for some people a true re-creation in many cases putting people back in touch with their past interests or helping them explore new and exciting ones. We love what we do and feel that we have been given the awesome opportunity to care for our residents, but we can’t always do it alone.

We have residents from all walks of life. When Christmas comes it is often a time of celebrating with family and friends, going home for the big dinner with all the trimmings and opening gifts under the tree, singing carols and sipping eggnog. Then there are the other people, who often due to circumstances beyond their control don’t have this kind of Christmas. These people sit alone, Christmas is just another day, they know they won’t have a visit from family or friends the day will come and go without even a gift to open, these are the people who are so deeply impacted by Seniors Secret Service. We put a lot of time in listening, visiting with our residents and thinking about what they need, then we ask them what they would really like Santa to bring them this year.

Can we ever know how someone who has very little truly feels when they receive a gift from someone who doesn’t know them, doesn’t know anything about their lives, where they have come from or where they are today.  All that individual knows is that someone out there is there to help, they care beyond measure and that they give without expecting anything in return. For our residents Seniors Secret Service has been many things, it has been a blessing, it has been something that has filled a need, a want, even a frivolous thought!

We thought we would share a few stories with you, we have changed the names of our residents but not the stories……….

Ken had often spoken of needing to work on his six-pack; we thought that was a unique request so put that on the list for him. When our delivery arrived there was a box labelled “HEAVY”, when we looked inside to our absolute shock we found weights for our gentleman. I can’t say that he buffed up a lot but he was certainly proud of the fact that he was “working out daily”.

Henry, who has MS was found living in unsafe conditions before moving to our facility. Henry always had a passion for Bob Marley and his music. Throughout his life he always said that he had Bob Marley’s music to get him through the hard times. Henry had never had the financial means or family and friend support to actually get any Bob Marley music of his own. Through Seniors Secret Service Henry was not only able to get Bob Marley music but a huge framed picture to display on his once empty walls. Beaming ear to ear Henry says that he is never alone now he always has Bob with him every day.

Alex always loved drumming. Through the years he had many different drums and said it helped him connect to his cultural past. Alex had emigrated from Africa many years ago. Through making Canada, and subsequently Calgary home he ended up having to leave a lot of family behind. In making a new life for himself in his new country, drumming was always that connection to home for him. When he developed Parkinson’s disease he had to move into our facility. When asked what could help make this feel more like home he said he would like to have his own drum. We put this request in and Seniors Secret Service was able to fill his request! Alex now beats away on his drum happily!

Marita was a lady who came to our facility after living a tough life for many years. She had lost contact with her family, she often said “I would like to know them, but they have gone this long without me why cause problems for them now” she wasn’t interested in trying to find them. Having pretty things was something she always loved. When Christmas was coming the one thing she wanted was to turn in her old coat for a new purple one with fur around the hood. Well imagine her feelings when she not only got a new coat but, soft gloves, scarf, hat, package of socks, a cardigan, pants and jacket. What a difference that made to Marita, she changed into her new clothes held her head high and went to the facility dining room to enjoy the first Christmas dinner she had been included in for many years. The next day she wrote a thank you note to Seniors Secret Service to thank the volunteers for remembering her. That was Marita’s last Christmas, what an impact Seniors Secret Service had on her, she was given something that meant so much.

Carewest Garrison Green opened in June of 2010, in that time we have had many people go through the Seniors Secret Service program as well as the Cheer All Year program. In 2010 we submitted 21 names, 2014 39 names, this past Christmas 2015 we submitted 72 names. The numbers of those in need entering LTC is growing significantly every year. Many times over the years we have had late admissions very close to Christmas who require a gift, I make the phone call, I have never heard Andrea say yet “sorry we can’t” or “you are too late” we have always had that last minute delivery so that not one person goes without. I can’t say enough about what this program does for our people, even the items that may seem to each of us to be just something we all have like toiletries or a blanket may not be something that a homeless person who has been placed in LTC has. It never ceases to amaze me what volunteers are willing to buy, often every single thing that is on the list…..one year a gift included chop sticks, we looked at that and were puzzled, when I checked my request sheet I noticed that I had made a typo and actually meant CHAPSTICK, clearly, the volunteers cared so much to actually look for and buy the chopsticks.

This year we were very fortunate to have staff volunteers come so that Santa and Mrs. Claus could personally deliver the gifts to our folk on Christmas morning. What a wonderful experience it was for them to see the looks on the faces of our residents who didn’t know anything was arriving.

Thank you to you, the wonderful volunteers who give so unselfishly, this is a program unlike any other, please know that you are appreciated so much and that the people who benefit from your program are truly blessed.