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Belinda’s Place is thanking the community for an outpouring of support after appealing for pyjama donations to give to their 40 residents this Christmas.
Earlier in the week, the women’s shelter took to Facebook asking residents to consider contributing a new pair of pyjamas as a Christmas present.
They said normally they have enough pairs for all 40 of the residents, but this year they only had two pairs.
“Getting a new pair of pjs on Christmas is such a nice gift and means a lot to our residents,” the post said.
They were looking for brand new pairs in any size.
Camille MacPherson, a case manager at Belinda's Place, said that normally Southlake holds a pyjama drive to help support them, however the person who organizes it was unable to do it this year.
“That’s a big part of the gifts that we give the clients each year,” she said.
Shortly after their public appeal, they had received an outpouring of support and now they had enough pyjamas for all of their residents.
"A huge thank you to everyone who has donated, you are all so generous and are making a huge difference," they said.
Belinda's Place will gladly continue to accept pyjama donations as it is one of their highly requested items, but they don't receive many donations of them throughout the year.
In another Facebook post asking for donations, they shared a list of all the items needed for their Christmas program.
The shelter welcomes donations of new, unwrapped toiletries, gift sets, slippers, winter hats, mitts and scarves, socks, underwear and bras, purses, coffee tea, giftcards, small household items like mugs, blankets, and alarm clocks, and journals and calendars.
The agency operating Belinda's Place also oversees a temporary shelter that provides service to men, so they are looking for those items for them, too.
They said they haven’t received as many donations this year as they normally would.
“We have found donations to be slower this year, so we are hoping to bring some more in. We are so thankful for any and all donations. We hope to have a stocking full for each client for Christmas morning,” they wrote on Facebook.
MacPherson said in general donations have been lower this year than in the past but she didn't know the reason.
“I don’t know if that’s COVID or people just have less spending money,” she said.
Donations can be dropped off at Belinda’s Place, located at 16580 Yonge St. in Newmarket, between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m.
