BOYLE – Santa’s Anonymous in Boyle is no more and Angels in Motion has taken its place.
Boyle Coun. Shelby Kiteley informed the rest of village council at their June 17 meeting that some changes have been made to the long-running program after the current executive was having difficulty locating a new home, along with the realization some of the services are duplicated.
“We’ve kind of officially gone under the Greater Athabasca Foundation and rebranded into a new group called Angels in Motion,” Kitely said. “We recognize that people have needs all year and not just at Christmas so, we are hoping to give people a little extra boost all year that might put them into a better position at Christmas.”
Kiteley added that the new group is working with community partners to fill in the gaps that FCSS, Boyle School and other groups cannot fill.
“We’ve reached out to Kim Lewis at FCSS Senior Support and we’ve offered help in the form of gas cards and hospital parking for seniors that are attending medical appointments,” she said. “We’ve offered to help with the lunch program money for cafeteria credits (at the school).”
Right now, the group is made up of Kiteley, Lindy Johnson and Brendan Peters and going under the umbrella of GAF allows the newly formed non-profit to make sure they are maximizing their reach to the community.
“The Greater Athabasca Foundation has agreed to let us under their wing, so they wouldn’t be a part of us, they just let us go under their umbrella,” Kiteley said.
The anonymous part has stayed with Angels in Motion as well. The group does not want to know any names of people whom they help.
“We’re partnering with these reliable community resources that are already in existence. We don’t want to ruin their integrity. When they come to us and say that they’ve got a need, we’re putting trust in them that it’s going to who needs it,” she said.
Kiteley said the group will add to the food bank hampers at Christmas and will assist anyone near Boyle.
“We're going to be helping people within about a 15 km radius of Boyle much like Santa’s Anonymous did,” she said. “And we've offered to help top up the hampers at Christmas time for needy families or if they see a need throughout the year for a family that they just don't feel that they can help quite as much.”
They are looking for both donations and volunteers, Kiteley added.
“We are accepting donations – monetary, grocery cards, gas cards and things like that because we do have reserves of toys left over from Santa’s Anonymous,” she said.
Kiteley can be reached at [email protected] or 780-689-0549.
Heather Stocking, TownandCountryToday.com
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