Christmastime is a wonderful time of year at Youville Centre, with many special events for our young mothers and their children, generous donations from our wonderful community, and visits from helpful volunteers and guests to make the season bright. It goes without saying that without YOU, we would not be able to provide such a magical Christmas for our young moms and babies each year.
Please take a photo journey with us as we share with you how our centre celebrates the holiday season! This photo journey only highlights some of the generous donors who generously gave at this time of year — we are grateful to all who donated in the form of time, financial contributions, diapers, toys, clothing, bath products, baby products, special treats, gift cards, non-perishable food items and so much more!
On Community Action Day, volunteers from Hydro Ottawa decorated the centre and baked Christmas cookies for our Christmas luncheon.*Stay tuned to our blog and upcoming newsletter for a story about a couple of very special guests who visited the centre and helped prepare us for the holidays!
Moms, staff and babies sang Christmas songs at our Mom & Me Christmas Circle Event.
“The Pyjama Elf” (a.k.a. a new, passionate donor and her team) visited and provided brand new pyjamas for each mom and child in our centre.
We were chosen as a beneficiary of the Christmas Cheer Foundation which enabled us to provide food vouchers for our clients so that they could provide for their young families over the Christmas break.
The Ottawa Food Bank provided holiday extras for our clients in the form of turkeys, hams and grocery vouchers so that our young moms could prepare a special dinner for their children.
Our students “shopped” in the Christmas You-Store with play “dollars” earned through our incentive program. This empowered our young moms to choose and wrap a gift or two to give to their child on Christmas morning.
We received our annual donation of Christmas teddy bears for the children from a group of loyal donors.
Our faithful volunteers picked up, sorted, washed and organized all of the in-kind donations of clothing, toys and other items for our clients — and they did it all with a smile and a healthy portion of Christmas spirit!
Last but not least, we hosted a Christmas Luncheon for our moms, their children and their partners or family members. Everyone enjoyed a tasty turkey dinner, and our special “Elves” from TELUS handed out gift cards to each of the moms! Also helping in the kitchen and serving tables were: board members, community partners, volunteers and staff. Christmas songs were sung and a great time was had by all.
Thank you to EVERYONE who helped us at Youville Centre provide a magical Christmas for our young moms and their children. We wish all of you a healthy, safe and happy holiday season!