Healing children and families from harm with curated kits of donations

The Toba Centre for Children and Youth collected donations to support children and families experiencing abuse-related hardships.

Winnipeggers drove through with donations Saturday to help children and families experiencing child abuse-related hardships.

The Toba Centre for Children and Youth held its first Herding Hope: Comfort Kit Drive, inviting Winnipeggers to donate items for children and families supported by the centre.

Donations were made in a drive-thru format, allowing supporters to drop off with ease. The centre offered cupcakes and warm drinks to supporters.

Centre’s CEO Christy Dzikowicz told CTV News the donations would support children and families in Winnipeg undergoing child abuse investigations.

“Seventy per cent of the kids and families we see at the Toba Centre come from outside the city of Winnipeg. In addition to dealing with what brings them to our centre, they’re also away from home.”

Items such as toothpaste, shampoo, body wash, board games and snacks were seen at the site. Dzikowicz said children and families attending the centre often stayed in hotels, leading staff to curate comfort kits for them.

Cash donations were used to purchase gift cards for pizza, swimming pools, movie theatres and other activities to help make their time in Winnipeg more comfortable, she said.

‘It means everything’

Dzikowicz said the centre had learned the depth of Manitobans’ support for children and families who had experienced harm over the past few years.

“It means everything to the children and families we serve,” she said. “When we are able to provide these types of care packages, we’re letting them know these items were donated by Manitobans who are behind them and support them.

“We all know that coming to Toba Centre and being part of this experience isn’t something we want for kids. We cannot change that fact, but what we can do is change things going forward.”

Donations to the Toba Centre for Children and Youth can be made year-round. More information is available online.