{"id":134220,"date":"2022-12-30T13:05:47","date_gmt":"2022-12-30T18:05:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/?p=134220"},"modified":"2022-12-30T13:05:47","modified_gmt":"2022-12-30T18:05:47","slug":"christmas-angel-program-spreads-holiday-cheer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/christmas-angel-program-spreads-holiday-cheer\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cChristmas Angel program\u201d spreads holiday cheer"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Yamaska Valley Optimist Club (YVOC) supports the positive development of youth in Brome-Missisquoi through different projects and community undertakings.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The first major initiative undertaken by the organization is called the \u201cChristmas Angel program;\u201d a project that continues during the holiday season to this day.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The \u201cChristmas Angel program\u201d involves collaborating with a few local schools and organizations in the region to put together a wish list for youth who may not receive a Christmas present. Paper Christmas angels, which include the child\u2019s information and gift ideas, are then hung up in different businesses in the area for the public to choose from if they want to support the program.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Started over 20 years ago, the \u201cChristmas Angel program\u201d has only continued to grow. This year in particular, 294 gifts were distributed to children in need.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe decided that we had all been very lucky in our lives and that every Christmas we were pretty well able to throw the Christmas that we wanted to. We thought that with all of our luck, wouldn\u2019t it be nice if we could share some of that with people who were having a hard time. We just expanded from that,\u201d said Suzan Smith, one of the YVOC club members that started the \u201cChristmas Angel program.\u201d<\/p>\n

In its first year, Smith estimated that the group had between 10 to 15 angels. Over the last few years, that number has increased to nearly 300.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been getting bigger, but it\u2019s going really well,\u201d noted Darlene Adams, member of YVOC and the \u201cChristmas Angel program\u201d committee.<\/p>\n

The \u201cChristmas Angel program\u201d now supports four elementary schools that fall under the Eastern Townships School Board, organizations such as Centre de p\u00e9diatrie sociale en communaut\u00e9 main dans la main, La Cellule Jeunes et familles de Brome-Missisquoi, La Maison Horizon pour Elle, and group homes for youth.<\/p>\n

The YVOC collaborated with seven businesses this year to get the Christmas angels out to the community.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIn Knowlton there is Home Hardware (Barnes), La Touche Finale, Le Panier Champetre, and D\u00e9panneur Rouge. In Cowansville we have Giant Tigre and Nettoyeur Houle and then we have Pharmacie Brunet in Sutton,\u201d mentioned Adams.<\/p>\n

Smith estimated that the YVOC has distributed around 2,500 gifts since the \u201cChristmas Angel program\u201d got started.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve done a lot of gifts. People have been very, very generous to us,\u201d she emphasized.<\/p>\n

We hope that there is never a need, but we recognize that there seems to be still a need to help out so that\u2019s where step in, said Smith.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe motto of Optimist Club is bringing out the best in children. When everything is going well, Christmas is generally the highlight of a kid\u2019s year. It really bothered us that maybe that wasn\u2019t the case for some children around in the area. (\u2026) It just seemed to catch on to everyone\u2019s imagination,\u201d she added. \u201cEverybody, no matter what was going on during the year, seemed to be ready to give something at Christmas.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Listen to the full interview below:<\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Yamaska Valley Optimist Club (YVOC) supports the positive development of youth in Brome-Missisquoi through different projects and community undertakings.\u00a0 The first major initiative undertaken by the organization is called the \u201cChristmas Angel program;\u201d a project that continues during the holiday season to this day.\u00a0 The \u201cChristmas Angel program\u201d involves collaborating with a few local…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":113,"featured_media":134225,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[57],"tags":[22181,6989,2954,22180,758,14408,7614,4640,1989,436,487],"radio":[246],"origine":[274,259,260],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134220"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/113"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=134220"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134220\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":134227,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134220\/revisions\/134227"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/134225"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=134220"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=134220"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=134220"},{"taxonomy":"radio","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/radio?post=134220"},{"taxonomy":"origine","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/origine?post=134220"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}