The Candlelighters Childhood Cancer Support Group’s second annual Christmas Toy Drive is on now.
Every year, the group, which supports families across Manitoba dealing with cancer, hosts a Christmas party where Santa Claus gives each attending child a gift. Additional smaller presents are also handed out through the event’s games and other activities.
“It’s gotten a little bit costly because our numbers have doubled from two years ago,” shares board chair Naomi Fehr. “We have 48 families registered for the event this Christmas.”
Upwards of 200 people—childhood cancer patients and survivors and their siblings and parents—have attended the holiday party the last few years.
As with every Candlelighters’ event, it’s an opportunity to celebrate and lean on one another.
“It’s a completely different connection than it would be in the hospital or in clinic,” Fehr says. “The kids are feeling great, they’re mingling with each other. There’s something special about a bond that two kids make who both are fighting cancer themselves, or even siblings [of cancer patients] as well. I see so many lifelong friendships coming out of this.
“I’m still friends with families who were in treatment with us back in 2004,” Fehr notes. Her nine-year-old son Josh lost his battle with the disease in 2012.
Each year, over 50 families in Manitoba receive a diagnosis of childhood cancer, and Candlelighters are there to help them through it with advice, care packages, supports like parking passes and food carts at the Children’s Hospital in Winnipeg, a benevolent fund, and celebrations throughout the year.
The group is a lifeline for many families.
“Candlelighters were our first resource,” shares Dena Labossiere, whose son was diagnosed with leukemia at age four. Carson is now a healthy eight-year-old.
“They’re the only people that kind of know what you’re going through,” she says. “They send a little care package and let you know that they’re there for you.”
Through the years, the Labossieres have continued to attend Candlelighters gatherings, receiving support and giving it in turn.
“We try to do all the Candlelighters events that we possibly can, because it’s good for all of us to have the resources of those other parents, to be surrounded by people that know what it’s like,” Labossiere says. “The last one we went to, I got together with a couple newly diagnosed families and they had questions right away. Like, how do you get medication into your kid at four years old? So we gave them some pointers, my husband and I, from our experience.”
Things like the gifts at Christmas put such a smile on the children’s faces, Labossiere says.
“It’s kind of just extra spirit they get right for the holidays, something that’s not from Mom and Dad. It’s somebody else looking at them and saying, ‘You’re special.’ Especially the siblings, because they go through so much too, and not everybody sees that. It includes the whole family.”
Last year, Candlelighters turned to Manitobans for help to support the Christmas magic.
“We ended up with four of these boxes full of toys,” says Fehr, gesturing to the donation box at Canadian Tire in Winkler, one of seven locations throughout Morden-Winkler accepting new, unwrapped toys on behalf of the campaign this month.
As with last year, any toys that come in that aren’t needed by Candlelighters will be donated to the Children’s Hospital to hand out to patients there.
All kinds of toys are welcome, for all ages.
“It’s for kids 0 to 17. The youngest kid I think we’ve had diagnosed in our group was two and a half months,” Fehr says. “So anything from a baby gift to a 17-year-old boy or girl gift … it’s all just so appreciated. “
You can drop off your donation until Saturday, Nov. 30 at Janzen’s Paint & Decorating, Renew Wellness Center, LMS Ag Equipment, Friesens Insurance Brokers, Best Western Plus Morden, Canadian Tire, and Sheer Bliss.
