Christmas arrived early for residents of care homes in Warman and Hague.
A truckload of individualized Christmas presents was delivered on Tuesday morning,, December 22, by employees of Zak’s Building Group for the 32 residents of Warman Mennonite Special Care Home, 98 residents of Diamond House care home in Warman, and 19 residents of Sunshine Housing in Hague.
The delivery of the presents marked the culmination of the company’s ‘#ZaksSecretSanta’ project, according to Kim Schmidt, marketing coordinator for the firm. She, along with fellow employee Christie Boulding, handed the gifts over to care home staff members.
Appropriate COVID-19 prevention measures were taken by care home staff and Zak’s employees during the delivery, including masks and physical distancing.
“It’s very gratifying to be able to give back to the community with a project like this,” said Schmidt. “We had tags on two Christmas trees in our store with residents’ names and their wish-list of gift items. Customers came and bought the items for the resident of their choice, and they left the items with our cashier. We bagged each item in Christmas gift bags and addressed them to the residents so they could be delivered in time for Christmas.”
Warman Mennonite Special Care Home recreation coordinator Zelma Peters said the gifts will make a big difference to the residents.
“They’ve been looking forward to receiving them and opening them Christmas day,” said Peters. “It’s difficult for the residents to be isolated from their families during this time, and this is a very nice gesture that we all appreciate.”
The Zak’s employees also had gifts of appreciation for the care home staff at each facility.