Six women in Iroquois Falls are involved in the third straight year of what they call the Pay it Forward Christmas Blessings Campaign.
They raise money to buy personalized gifts for people who might otherwise be passed over at Christmas.
Tina Turner says they do it by raising money on the local one-dollar auction site, and ask businesses for contributions – including businesses in Cochrane.
“People from Iroquois Falls come to shop in Cochrane,” she notes. “So we’ve been very fortunate to have very generous donations from Paps Dollar Store and also Rockshield.”
The Rockshield lumber mill employs what Turner calls “a lot of Iroquois Falls residents.”
Turner emphasizes that making sure that everyone has a good Christmas is not a competition.
“So we try not to duplicate the local telethon that’s run through the organizations in Iroquois Falls. We try to get individuals that might otherwise be overlooked.”
That could be low-income, seriously ill, the disabled, residents of the hospital and Manor, and those helped by the community living association. The group makes up personalized gifts to meet their needs.
The first year, 98 people received gifts. Last year – the second – the women served 168 people.
Members of the Christmas Blessings group are Tina Turner, Danielle Latour, Dina Puckalo, Tammy Cormier, Ann Levert and Sylvie Levert.
(Photo submitted)