Some local seniors received an unexpected gift for the holidays. 

Audrey Harder is the Executive Director at the Pat Porter Active Living Centre in Steinbach. 

She says Stockings for Seniors were delivered on Thursday. 

“We had so many volunteers willing to come in and package the stockings, get them all ready, and it only took us half an hour to package all the stockings,” Harder says. “We sent out 52. That’s lower than the last couple of years and that's because I think people are actually going to be able to see family, I'm hoping that's why.” 

The stockings were filled with a variety of snacks, ornaments, coupons for Meals on Wheels and a variety of other items. 

“The stocking program is more to just make Christmas a little better for people who are alone at Christmas time or around Christmas time,” says Harder. “We want to make sure people get that joy from childhood, from any part of their life, where they've been able to celebrate Christmas with others and open their gifts and see what's in there. For a lot of people, it's unexpected. So, they get this gift randomly from a stranger, or somebody they know, and it's exciting.” 

This initiative started in 2020 to connect with seniors over the holidays, to take away some of the loneliness that was happening while Manitobans struggled to deal with the second wave of COVID-19. 

Related Stories