The Uplifting Blessings Easter drive is underway and accepting donations. The not-for-profit charity is accepting donations for youth from infants to 12 years of age.
The Easter drive is one of Uplifting Blessing's three yearly drives. Along with the Easter drive from January to Easter, there is also the school drive from May to August and the Christmas drive from September to December.
Children who receive the donations are chosen by community organizations Uplifting Blessings works alongside.
The organizations are Simcoe Muskoka Family Connexions, DB Child and Family Services in Rama, Chippewas of Rama First Nations, and North Simcoe Victim Services.
During the Easter drive, the organization provides Easter baskets for youth. The baskets give the children something to smile about on Easter and things they need as the seasons change.
Carolyn-Marie Goodwin, the founder and operations manager of Uplifting Blessings, says the charity is looking for a wide variety of items.
Here are some of the requested items:
- Spring outfits like shirts and shorts
- Underwear and socks
- Children’s hygiene items
- Two-in-one body wash
- Toothpaste
- Hair brushes
- Deodorant
- Hair accessories
- Baby hygiene
- Face cloths
- Sunscreen
- Sunglasses
- Shoes
- Chocolate for Easter and candies that are nut free for allergy reasons
- Stuffed animals
- Gift cards to Giant Tiger
People who wish to donate can help in other non-monetary ways too.
“If you don’t have the money to donate or you can’t go out shopping, we also have our notes of encouragement program that people can participate in. We call it colour it forward,” Goodwin said.
Colour it forward provides notes in every child’s Easter basket.
“They can go online and hit the link and print off some Easter cards, colour them in, and write a nice message,” said Goodwin.
Another way to help is what Uplifting Blessings calls an adoption. This program gives people the opportunity to donate items for a specific child.
"We get a child and the child's information. Everything is kept confidential, but we give them the basics like the child's age, the size of clothing that they wear, the size of shoes that they wear, likes and interests, things of that nature," Goodwin said.
With the information, people can shop for the specific child and drop off the items at the two Uplifting Blessings headquarters. The two locations are Coach House Kids and Northern Roots Hair Studio in Orillia. Both companies donate their basements for Uplifting Blessings to use.
Some local businesses have offered space and support for Uplift Blessings. One of those businesses is Sunshine Car Wash, which has provided space during March for the charity. The car wash is accepting cash donations on behalf of Uplifting Blessings.
Another local business who's pledged support is My Best Friends Cupcakes. The cupcake company is pledging $1 donated to Uplifting Blessings per cupcake sold between 5 and 7 p.m. on March 20.
Along with the cupcakes, there is also an option to take a photo with the Easter bunny. 100 per cent of the picture proceeds will go to Uplifting Blessings.
Both the cupcake sale and Easter bunny photos are being held at Northern Roots Hair Studio from 5 to 7 p.m. on March 20.
Since Easter is early this year, Uplifting Blessing is requesting all donations at the very latest on March 24. Goodwin says the week will provide enough time to prepare and deliver the donations.
Anyone who wants to learn more about Uplifting Blessings can visit them on Facebook and Instagram under Uplifting Blessings.
-Banner image provided by Uplifting Blessings
