The Winkler Senior Centre has put a call out for volunteers in connection with a new initiative they’re launching this week.
Thanks to funding from Southern Health-Santé Sud’s Healthy Together Now program, Winkler’s Services for Seniors has purchased a host of items they intend to use to create care packages for women staying at Genesis House, the regional shelter for the survivors of domestic violence.
“We wanted to do something different,” explains resource coordinator Denise Enns of the program, which they’ve dubbed “Caring for All. “And so we thought of collaborating with some other organizations, because the theme of the grant is creating connections.”
They’ll be putting the shelter’s care bags together this Friday, May 29, following a presentation from Genesis House about its day-to-day operations, statistics about who makes use of its support programs and services, and an update on its new Clearwater Place transitional housing project going up in Winkler.
The presentation, which gets underway at 1:30 p.m. at the senior centre (650 South Railway Ave.) is open to all, no pre-registration required, but organizers hope some people will also sign up in advance to stick around afterwards to help assemble the care packages.
“We are preparing 45 of them for Genesis House to give to each client that comes through their doors,” shares Enns, explaining they’ll be filled with basic toiletries, a notebook, and other small essentials.
“We need maybe five to 10 volunteers,” she notes, urging anyone interested in joining the care package assembly line that afternoon to give her a call at 204-325-8964 or sign up in the resource office at the senior centre.
If you can’t make it this week, you can still be involved in Caring for All when it assembles similar care packages for its second recipient: Katie Cares. The charity, which operates the Katie’s Cottage respite home and also sends gift bags to children receiving treatment in local health care centres, will make a presentation about its work at the senior centre sometime in July.
If volunteering doesn’t work for you, Enns still hopes you’ll come down to these presentations, as they will provide an interesting glimpse into the work of these two important non-profits in our area.
“It’s a nice opportunity for everybody, and a chance for us to partner with a different organization,” she says. “It should be eye-opening, too, to learn about what they’re doing.”
