The support for the Estevan Kinette Club’s PJ Project this year was so enormous that they even had to ask some people and companies willing to donate to direct their money to other charities.
Chelsey Istace, who spearheads the project, along with Kritsol Nagy, said that it's the first time they ever had to do something like that. The spirit of giving in the Estevan area was overwhelming, but the demand for support also significantly rose. The Kinettes had to secure enough pyjamas for about 560 kids ages zero to 16 years old.
So to meet their goals, they pretty much cleared all pyjamas they could find in all of the Estevan stores.
"PJ Project was amazing this year. We had more support than we've ever had before. We had people reaching out to us non-stop wanting to do some kind of fundraiser to support us. It was really, really good," said Istace.
"I think people are so grateful for what they have this year, that they wanted to do so much more … All of a sudden we got an avalanche of people that were like 'We have, we want to give.' So it was amazing to see the community come together."
With the support being there this year, the Kinettes didn't even need to ask for help.
"Normally, about a week before the project ends, we are asking people, 'We need everything, come on help us, please do what you can.' And this year we got to the point when we actually started recommending people make donations to the local food bank instead, because we didn't want to take more than we needed," Istace said.
Many individuals and organizations came up with donations or ideas, and just either handed the Kinettes the cheques or provided bags and bags of pyjamas for Estevan kids. For example, the local members with the Registered Nurses Association challenged the other staff at St. Joseph's Hospital, and they were able to get over 60 pyjamas. OM Yoga Studio held Yoga for a Cause and Nicole McKague Photography hosted Photos with Santa, both directing all proceeds towards the PJ Project.
"We had a lot of different support this year," Istace said. "It was really, really good. It probably was my favourite year."
The pyjama donations were being dropped at Istace's house all the way since the beginning of this year's project, and that also felt "really good."
There were also a lot of monetary donations coming in, which allowed the Kinettes to fulfill the size gaps they had. The support was strong from both private people and businesses.
"Thank you to Estevan and the surrounding areas for your continued support with our project. We hope you have a merry Christmas and a happy New Year," Istace said.
She added that her co-chair Nagy was a huge part of the project and Istace couldn't have done it without her.
The pyjamas were distributed through the Community Hamper Association's Angel Tree Toy Store this week.
