Baskets support families including those at Nova House
A West St. Paul resident is organizing an Easter basket drive for children staying at the Ronald McDonald House, Dignity House Inc. and women’s shelters in Manitoba, including Nova House in Selkirk.
Tanya Pilat, the organizer of the drive in Manitoba, is an educational leader with the toy company Discover Toys. Representatives from the company organize Easter basket drives across North America every year.
“It’s such a special part of our children’s lives growing up that they get to do an Easter basket hunt or things like that,” Pilat said. “It’s one of those times where maybe kids in these situations aren’t thought of as much.”
Each spring-themed basket is filled with books, toys, crayons, treats, toiletry kits and anything else that can be gathered up for the basket. Pilat is collecting monetary and physical goods donations from individuals and businesses.
A basket can be sponsored for $30, though Pilat said because of the donations of goods, the baskets are worth more than $30 each. Last year, Pilat put together more than 300 baskets for families in Manitoba and has the same goal this year.
This project has been going on for 10 years, and Pilat has been involved for nine years. When the basket drive launched, the volunteers started by putting together baskets for women’s shelters.
“They really deserve to have that little bit of joy that they might not have gotten in the emergency situations a lot of them experienced, so it was selected to do the women’s shelters at that time,” Pilat said. “You’re escaping a domestic situation, and you’re going to a shelter, and the last thing you’re going to think of is buying an Easter bunny for your child. … One of the reasons Easter was chosen was because it was one of those holidays that might be overlooked by a lot of people.”
As the project grew, with more and more donations and sponsorships coming in, it expanded to include Dignity House and the Ronald McDonald House.
“Moms will say to the staff that they didn’t think that they would be able to provide something like this at Easter because of the situation they’re going through,” she said. “To have somebody think of them and their child was really special and really meaningful to them.”
Those interested in donating supplies or money can contact Pilat by email at tanyapilat@yahoo.com. She asks for people to contact her first before purchasing or gathering gifts to ensure there isn’t overlap with multiple of the same items.
“It was just something special that we could do that was different and recognizing the need for children to experience joy at this time of year as well,” Pilat said.
