New volunteer venture to support Elders Caring Shelter opens
REMO ZACCAGNA – Herald-Tribune staff
Posted 12 hours ago
 Mary Helen Ferris and Kayla Laboucan came up with the idea for the Elders Creative Shoppe in the Towne Centre Mall, which will raise funds for the Elders Caring Shelter.
Remo Zaccagna
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Last winter, Kayla Laboucan and Mary Helen Ferris spent many weekends outdoors selling raffle tickets to raise funds for the Elders’ Caring Shelter.
Mild or cold, sunny or snowy, the duo would be out doing the best they could for a cause they deeply believed in. But Laboucan, 17, thought that there must be a better way to raise money.
“So we were at the Co-op this year with the raffle, and selling angels, and she said ‘You’re not doing this this year. You’re not going to be out in the cold,’” Ferris recalled. “And so I said, ‘now what do I do?’ And she said, ‘find us a place.’”
And find a place she did. On Nov. 13 the pair officially opened the Elders’ Creative Shoppe (Elders Corner) in a former jewellery store location in the Town Centre Mall.
Entirely run on a volunteer basis, the store features numerous handcrafted Métis items – everything from artwork, jewellery, to clothing. Part of the proceeds from the items, all on consignment, will go towards the Elders’ Caring Shelter on 99 Avenue.
“What we needed was a good fundraiser to raise funds for the Elders Caring Shelter, and we’ve done raffles, tickets, and draws in the past, and we thought why not do this?” explained Laboucan, the store’s manager.
The money raised will go towards funding programs at the shelter, which offers transient housing for up to three years for homeless people over the age of 55, many of them Métis.
“Our mandate is to get them back into society, and so what we do is a lot of activities and counselling, and we work on self-esteem,” explained Benita Galandy, the shelter’s manager.
Ferris said they’ve had almost 30 consignors offer items over a five-day span this month.
“Thirty-five years ago I had an art gallery in Spirit River, and sometimes life comes full circle,” she said. “So these are all hand-crafted work from artisans whose stores have gone out of business.”
On Friday the store will host the Butterfly Kisses Gala, which will double as a fundraiser for the shelter and business launch for Candi Haugen, a Métis artist/photographer.
At the gala, Laboucan will team up with her grandfather, Richard, who lives at the elders’ shelter, to perform traditional Métis music.
Overall, the entire experience has been eye-opening for her, she said.
“It’s been exponentially extraordinary, it’s beyond belief,” Laboucan said. “When we first started out we never thought that things could go the way that they had, especially at the rate that it has.”
The Creative Shoppe will be open daily until Dec. 30, when the idea will be re-evaluated, Laboucan said.
“It is when we’ll kind of decide whether we can continue, and if possible, we’d like to become permanent,” she said.
rzaccagna@bowesnet.com
REMO ZACCAGNA – Herald-Tribune staff
Posted 12 hours ago
Mary Helen Ferris and Kayla Laboucan came up with the idea for the Elders Creative Shoppe in the Towne Centre Mall, which will raise funds for the Elders Caring Shelter.
Remo Zaccagna
|
|
Last winter, Kayla Laboucan and Mary Helen Ferris spent many weekends outdoors selling raffle tickets to raise funds for the Elders’ Caring Shelter.
Mild or cold, sunny or snowy, the duo would be out doing the best they could for a cause they deeply believed in. But Laboucan, 17, thought that there must be a better way to raise money.
“So we were at the Co-op this year with the raffle, and selling angels, and she said ‘You’re not doing this this year. You’re not going to be out in the cold,’” Ferris recalled. “And so I said, ‘now what do I do?’ And she said, ‘find us a place.’”
And find a place she did. On Nov. 13 the pair officially opened the Elders’ Creative Shoppe (Elders Corner) in a former jewellery store location in the Town Centre Mall.
Entirely run on a volunteer basis, the store features numerous handcrafted Métis items – everything from artwork, jewellery, to clothing. Part of the proceeds from the items, all on consignment, will go towards the Elders’ Caring Shelter on 99 Avenue.
“What we needed was a good fundraiser to raise funds for the Elders Caring Shelter, and we’ve done raffles, tickets, and draws in the past, and we thought why not do this?” explained Laboucan, the store’s manager.
The money raised will go towards funding programs at the shelter, which offers transient housing for up to three years for homeless people over the age of 55, many of them Métis.
“Our mandate is to get them back into society, and so what we do is a lot of activities and counselling, and we work on self-esteem,” explained Benita Galandy, the shelter’s manager.
Ferris said they’ve had almost 30 consignors offer items over a five-day span this month.
“Thirty-five years ago I had an art gallery in Spirit River, and sometimes life comes full circle,” she said. “So these are all hand-crafted work from artisans whose stores have gone out of business.”
On Friday the store will host the Butterfly Kisses Gala, which will double as a fundraiser for the shelter and business launch for Candi Haugen, a Métis artist/photographer.
At the gala, Laboucan will team up with her grandfather, Richard, who lives at the elders’ shelter, to perform traditional Métis music.
Overall, the entire experience has been eye-opening for her, she said.
“It’s been exponentially extraordinary, it’s beyond belief,” Laboucan said. “When we first started out we never thought that things could go the way that they had, especially at the rate that it has.”
The Creative Shoppe will be open daily until Dec. 30, when the idea will be re-evaluated, Laboucan said.
“It is when we’ll kind of decide whether we can continue, and if possible, we’d like to become permanent,” she said.
rzaccagna@bowesnet.com
