ATHABASCA — As more and more organizations across the province report increasing difficulty in finding and keeping volunteers, one local woman is dedicating her time and efforts to help out where she can, when she can, and how she can.
And this summer, Gayla Breckenridge is reviving an initiative she first started 15 years ago; a luggage drive for Hope Haven’s Women’s Shelter in Lac La Biche.
“I know everybody’s not travelling with big luggage on airplanes anymore, nobody has the need for them. But people can put their lives in them; these women come with plastic bags."
“I have lip-shaped bags for kids that people have donated, and any size, hockey bags,” said Breckenridge. “They all come with different needs.”
Although this year marks the first in the last 15 Breckenridge has held the luggage drive, she busies herself by volunteering her time and efforts to lots of different organizations in the area, like the Legion, both to give back and get back out in the community.
“I worked full-time for the last 40 years and I haven’t volunteered as much as I would like,” she said. “Anybody needs help, give Gayla a call, I’ll come help you do whatever you need to do.”
While working in the oilfield, Breckenridge and other women in the industry came together to form their own golf tournament after years of exclusion from the men’s tournaments.
The Alberta Ladies Petroleum Classic brought women in the oilfield together from north to south, and often chose to donate to women’s shelters and organizations. Breckenridge, inspired by the outreach, wondered how she could support the same causes in her own backyard.
“Just a thought came in my head, and I phoned them, said, ‘Is this a need?’”
So far this summer, Breckenridge estimates she has collected more than 100 suitcases, bags and other gently used luggage and receptacles. Although she hasn’t advertised her efforts on social media and is relying mostly on word of mouth, she said there’s been no shortage of donations from the Athabasca area and beyond.
“I had one guy this drive, and he went into his Grandpa’s place — his grandpa lives in Stony Plain,” said Breckenridge. “He comes back to my place with half a minivan full of luggage. ‘Grandpa had this in the basement, didn’t know what to do with it.’”
In her mind, the drive is a win-win; the local shelter receives essentials, those with luggage can free up space with little effort, and giving unsued items a second life can keep perfectly good luggage out of the landfill.
“They just don’t know what to do with it, right? So if I can give them a place that they’ll be happy to give it to, that’s kind of what I do.”
In addition to people bringing donations straight to her, Breckenridge said she’s also incorporated her hunt for luggage into her regular routine, and has friends and family on the lookout, too.
“My grandson from Saskatchewan was playing lacrosse in Bonnyville and Cold Lake, so I hit all the garage sales there and picked up a truckload,” she said. “From Edmonton, my sisters brought stuff that she brought from Calgary from her husband’s aunt's place.”
Although her focus this year is only luggage, local second-hand store Lolly Pop Thrift Shop also contributed to the cause, offering a full box of diapers for her drive — an offer she didn’t turn down.
“I’m just concentrating on luggage this time and I think next drive I do I’ll see what they need and do it,” said Breckenridge. “If they want toiletries, if they want socks, if they want toques. I have a sister-in-law that all winter, all she does is knits and just gives all the socks and toques away.”
In the future, Breckenridge hopes to not only expand her drives for Hope Haven to include other necessities for guests, but also to include more organizations in need in the community, like Athabasca Cares.
And while she is happy to support as many non-profits or volunteer groups in the community as possible, Breckenridge’s focus on women’s shelters and supports is in part due to their lack of visibility, and lack of centres in Northern Alberta.
“The women’s shelter has always been a staple in my heart. Not that I’ve ever needed it, but I’ve had girlfriends that needed it.”
“And Hope Haven covers a large area,” she added. “I would always think of them; those ladies could use the help.”
