Low-income Calgarians dig deep for sick and disadvantaged children

It truly is a season of giving for some Calgarians as some homeless people give thousands to a sick children foundation and seniors fill boxes of toys for the citys less fortunate children.

Homeless Calgarians give $2,200 to sick kids, seniors give toys

CBC News Posted: Dec 12, 2015 12:51 AM EST | Last Updated: December 12, 2015

Ella Wilie, bottom left, and her brother Elijah recently had their trip of a lifetime thanks to a children's foundation that received $1,000 from some homeless Calgarians. (Evelyne Asselin/CBC)

It truly is a season of giving for some Calgarians as homeless people give thousands to a sick children's foundation and seniors fillboxes of toys for the city's less fortunate kids.

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For 12-year-old Elijah Wilie and his three-year-old sister Ella, the work done by the Children's Wish Foundation is invaluable.

The siblingsElijah has cystic firbrosis, Ella has epilepsyrecently had a dream trip to Disney World and Universal Studios in Florida, thanks to the foundation.

"It is really nice to think that people are willing to donate so much to help kids like me just forget about being sick and just be a normal kid and be able to do this fun stuff," Elijah said.

The people he's talking about, are a group of homeless people who are donating more than $2,000 to children's charities this year, including $1,000 to the foundation.

Tim Buckingham is one them. He says over time, bottle refunds can really add up.

Although homeless, Tim Buckingham says raising money for sick children's charities is 'worth the effort.' (CBC)

"It's little bits at a time and it adds up to a reasonable amount," Buckingham said.

"We figured anything we could do to make the children happy or not think about their circumstances was worth the effort."

This wasn't the only act of generosity in the city Friday.

A group of lower-income seniors from Peter Coyle Place also had children and giving on their minds.

Some residents filled two boxes of toys that firefighters will distribute to less fortunate children at a huge party later this month.

Calgary firefighters now have 2 boxes full of toys to distribute to less fortunate children this Christmas, thanks to the work of some low-income seniors who just wanted to help. (CBC)

Lorraine Monroe is one of those seniors.

"We decided this year to have something different, we are having a toy drive," Monroe explained.

She says the group has decided, this won't be the last time they do it.

Lorraine Monroe says collecting toys for disadvantaged children with other seniors at Peter Coyle Place, will now be an ongoing adventure because 'We want to wish the kids a very merry Christmas.' (CBC)

"This will be an ongoing adventure every year because it gives you the giving feeling for Christmas," Monroe said.

"That's what it's all about. We want to wish the kids a very merry Christmas."

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