Elves for Seniors Montreal gift donation group needs a helping hand

A group of volunteers is collecting and delivering donations to long-term care residences in Montreal – and they could use a little help.

Elves for Seniors Montreal is a charity group making sure local elders are not forgotten during the holidays. The collection is in its fifth year and the group has turning a donated space in an industrial park in Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue into a veritable Santa’s Workshop.

Inside, Alana Edwards and her Elves for Seniors volunteers ask residents in long-term care homes what they'd like as a gift, and then they get it for them.

Items like toiletries, pyjamas and chocolate are on the list.

“We have 3,500 seniors this year, hoping to reach our goal of 3,500 gifts, but gifts are really coming in slowly this year,” said Edwards, who has colour-coded binders for each of the 39 CHSLDs and long-term care residences, all organized to respect people's privacy.

When visiting her own mom, Cheryl, in eldercare, Edwards said she sees how some people can be forgotten.

“My background is in special care counselling and I always geared towards gerontology and seniors have always been a big part of my life. My grandmother had Alzheimer’s while I was growing up. My mother has Alzheimer’s, this is really close to my heart,” she said.

• Visit the Elves for Seniors Montreal website, Facebook page or Instagram page

Here's how it works: Elves for Seniors lists 14 gift-giving trees in locations from Vaudreuil to LaSalle and Kahnawake, each decorated with a wish-tag from a local senior.

Anyone who wants to help can take a tag and buy the gift requested on the tag. They can then bring the gift, unwrapped, to one of the tree locations.

One of the locations bearing a nicely decorated and tagged tree is at Calzone Restaurant in Kirkland. They've been supporting the cause for years, said co-owner Shayne Fuller.

“It’s always amazing. Everybody wants to participate and help out and give back to everybody. This year is a little bit slower, though. We haven’t seen as many people coming through, but in due time I’m sure it’s going to pick up,” he said.

The donation drive ends Sunday Dec. 3, giving Edwards and her elves time to get the gifts to the 39 residences to spread a little holiday cheer.