Three years ago, Jessa Turner found herself alone at Christmas and wondering how she would get through the holiday season.
Her children away, no relatives close by, it would have been easy to feel sorry for herself.
But instead of moping, the Coquitlam mom got busy and today she’s the force behind an annual project to make Christmas a little brighter for homeless people in the area.
“I thought I’d do something for people who have nothing,” Turner said, recalling the day in 2014 when she came up with the idea for Christmas Bags of Hope.
In the beginning, she planned to fill 25 bags with 15 items each that people who spend most of their time outdoors might need. When that went better then expected, Christmas Bags of Hope expanded.
Today, thanks to her friends and a Facebook group, as many as 100 bags will be filled with useful items and distributed to the clients at the Coquitlam homeless shelter on Gordon Avenue and to other needy people in the area.
As well, the group is collecting gifts for residents at two local seniors’ homes.
“You can see the light inside the people when they get the gifts,” said Turner, who brings her daughter, Kaitlyn, with her when she visits the Coquitlam shelter.
There is so much stigma attached to homelessness and Turner wasn’t sure what to expect. Shelter residents are typically down on their luck and often struggling with addictions but their essential humanity shines through as when one man gave thanks and said the bag of items was the first gift he had received in years.
The Turner family typically delivers the goods on Christmas Eve, with the help from other women, such as Coquitlam’s Lenore Clemens, who said helping people in her community gives her a good feeling.
Included in the bags are cards with inspirational sayings, a tradition that Turner continues to keep.
“When they read it, they know there’s hope,” she said. “I want people to know that there’s women who care.”
Some items are still needed to fill the bags, among them: men’s and women’s toques and gloves, sanitary pads and tampons, men’s underwear, and snack items. A GoFundMe page has also been set up at https://gofundme.com/christmasbagsofhope.
