ESTEVAN - Despite challenges, the Estevan Kinette Club, for the seventh straight time, reached their goal and fulfilled their Christmas obligations.
The PJ Project, ran by local Kinette Club members and spearheaded by Chelsey Istace and Kristol Nagy, had 430 kids of different ages on their list this year. They had about a month to fundraise and collect enough pyjamas.
"It was definitely a lot slower than most years. Usually, we have donations flooding in and this year it was definitely a slower start," said Istace.
They didn't need to remind people about their campaign, but there was a moment when the volunteers became pretty worried about reaching the goal. Even right before the distribution day, they still were missing a few sizes, but they did have people that reached out and said they were going to shop for them and were bringing a few more donations.
"We're tighter than most years. Usually, we're a little bit more ahead," Istace said.
In the end, the PJ Project had enough pyjamas for everyone.
On top of that, every child received a toothbrush for Christmas morning. This was the first year for this addition.
"We've never given toothbrushes before. Estevan Dental donated over 500 toothbrushes so that every child gets a toothbrush, floss and toothpaste with their pyjamas this year," said Istace.
"They are in these cute little bags as if you went to the dentist. We've never done that before. So we have that to add on to the pyjamas. It's super fun."
Istace and Nagy noted that they had more private people donating pyjamas this year, and just a few businesses.
"We still had businesses stepping up. But normally, we have a lot more. I think that also had to do with us not giving a plea. We didn't want to take away because we knew how much the Angel Tree needed it, we knew that they were in desperate need, and we knew that we were going to be okay. I think that was the difference," Istace explained.
Kinettes were selling pyjamas and accepting donations during one of the Estevan Bruins’ games this year. They also were campaigning on social media, and after all, they received enough support to clean out most of the kids' pyjamas from stores in the area.
"Thank you so much to the community for helping us out once again and reaching our goal and for all the support that we get year after year. Without them we wouldn't be doing this for sure," Istace said.
Pyjamas were distributed out of St. Giles Anglican Church at the same time with toys from Angel Tree's Toy Store.
