Two St. Albert student Santas hope local donors will help bring an early Christmas to 600 kids in Canada’s north.
Outreach High students Cole Garritty and Jeric Macdonald are rallying St. Albertans to fill 600 gift boxes with toys, clothes, and other necessities for residents in the Northwest Territories by Nov. 3.
The effort is a continuation of a campaign Garritty ran last year originally inspired by a 2021 charitable effort organized by Geoff McKay, a retired/reserve constable with the St. Albert RCMP.
McKay had been working in Nunavut when he received a care package from his wife. He encouraged others on Facebook to assemble similar packages which he could distribute, which led to him handing out some 250 gift boxes to kids in Sanirajak, Nunavut.
McKay inspired Garritty to launch a similar project last year which saw St. Albert families send about 400 gift boxes to Sanirajak.
This year, Garritty recruited Macdonald to help do the project again, but with a twist.
“Last year, we just sent the boxes up north,” Garritty said.
“This year, we’re actually going up in person. We’re going up to the Northwest Territories in person to deliver them.”
Big boxes to fill
Garritty initially took on the project last year for academic credits, but formed a strong bond with McKay in the process, said Outreach principal JoAnn Blachford.
“This year, Geoff said, ‘Hey, you guys want to come with me?’”
Garritty said he and the rest of the project team decided to try for 600 boxes this year since they blew last year’s target of 250 out of the water. They also hoped to get the boxes to four communities instead of just one: Behchokǫ̀, Sachs Harbour, Tuktoyaktuk, and Yellowknife.
Garritty and Macdonald said they spent recent weeks visiting St. Albert schools and organizations to promote the project. Sir Alexander Mackenzie, Hillgrove, and Lois E. Hole schools have signed on, with the latter hoping to fill some 200 boxes. T8N 100 Men, the Rotary Club of St. Albert, and various St. Albert businesses have pledged $12,200 to fill boxes and ship them and the project team up north.
McKay and Blachford said they later got the idea to call Buffalo Airways (star of the reality TV show Ice Pilots NWT) to see if they could help get the boxes up north.
That put them in touch with Kenny McBryan, a St. Albert resident and general manager of Buffalo Air Express (the courier arm of Buffalo Airways). McBryan said his company has agreed to ship the boxes to Yellowknife for free, with Garritty’s team funding shipments from Yellowknife to the other communities.
“My whole family is from up there, so every time we can help people up there, we do it,” McBryan said.
Garritty encourages residents to pick up boxes from the Outreach school at 50 Sir Winston Churchill Ave. and fill them with new or gently used items appropriate for students in Grades K-12, seniors, or young mothers. Candy, toys, clothes, and art supplies are all good options. Donors should specify the grade level and gender of whom they would like to receive their boxes and deliver them to the Outreach school by Nov. 3 so they can be shipped north (a process that will take several weeks).
St. Albert is a wealthy community and well-positioned to help those up north, Garritty said.
“A jug of milk here is like five bucks, while up there it’s like $20. Anything you can send up; it makes a big difference for them.”
Garritty said the project team will fly north to distribute the boxes at the end of November.
Questions on the boxes should go to the Outreach school at 780-458-0839.
