Four days a week, 85-year-old Marjorie Brewster stops by the cancer clinic at the Southlake Regional Health Centre in Newmarket, Ont., to deliver toys to sick children.
It is a routine she has been following for 26 years, hoping to bring smiles to the faces of kids who are at the hospital for difficult treatments such as chemotherapy and blood transfusions.
"They're wondering what I'm giving them, they aren't thinking about what has to be done," Brewster told CTV News.
It is a tradition that was inspired by Brewster's own past experiences with cancer. She has lost two children to the disease. But she remembers how happy her son was when she brought a present for him to the hospital.
"I do this because 44 years ago we lost our son to leukemia," Brewster said.
Every Thursday Brewster goes to the store with her daughter to stock up on new toys. Brewster buys enough gifts to give out to every single child in the Paediatric Oncology Clinic at the hospital.
Sometimes there are so many toys that they overstock the shopping cart.
"(My daughter) usually ends up carrying half of it, because the buggy gets full," Brewster says.
Even clerks at the store have taken notice.
"She's an angel, she truly is an angel," a worker at the store said.
And parents at Southlake hospital say thanks to Brewster their kids now have something to look forward to.
"They come in with a smile, which you wouldn't expect from a child … receiving chemotherapy," a parent said.
Brewster was recently honoured by the hospital for her volunteer work, which she plans to continue for as long as she can.
"I love the kids and that’s it," said Brewster.
"Like they say, 'Till they carry me out.' I'm not giving in, how about that."
