A Swift Current resident who went out of her way to ensure seniors had a happy holiday received a very special holiday mention from Premier Scott Moe.

 

Kathy Jennings organized the Adopt a Senior for the Holidays program which saw 566 seniors adopted in just three weeks. Moe spoke of this holiday miracle in his holiday message and Jennings says she was overwhelmed when she found out.

"So rewarding. It was definitely overwhelming and I won't lie to you I did shed a couple of tears. It was pretty emotional."

Jennings adds that there were many volunteers who helped out with everything from wrapping to cleaning the gifts to delivery. 

There are so many thank you's to hand out said, Jennings. I would like to thank everyone who adopted a senior, Swift Current Mall provided us with the space to receive the gifts, all of the volunteers who helped throughout the program, Jay's Moving for helping with the deliveries, WinMar who fogged all the gifts to ensure they were safe, Canadian Tire for donating the PPE equipment and Dollarama for donating the wrapping supplies. 

Photo courtesy of Kathy Jennings

 

It was about making the senior's holidays special according to Jennings.

"Well, I know right now it's such a difficult time for everybody, especially with Christmas time. A lot of seniors do not get the chance to get out and go see their family or their family come and see them. I just thought if we can put a little bit of a smile on their face and a memory that will make their day. This is the perfect time to do it and that's what I wanted."

In response to being surprised by the community support, Jennings says not at all because this community is amazing and this is proof of it. People stepped up and I am not surprised and it just makes me feel full of love for everyone and a big thank you goes out to everyone involved. 

Jennings is currently in the process of delivering all the gifts and says that the smiles on the senior's faces when they are dropping off the gifts is a reward on its own. 

Delivery to the Salvation Army for their hampers for seniors. Photo courtesy of Kathy Jennings