Single parents in Edmonton to get gifts, Christmas dinner from their 'Little Santas'
A community effort to make Christmas a little brighter for single parents in the Edmonton area is looking for a little help from the public.
A charity called Little Santas helps children give gifts to their parents, the families get a gingerbread house to build together, and a St. Albert restaurant makes Christmas dinner.
"I was a single mom when I was 16," Layna Haley said Friday.
"So I was a teen mom, as well as a single mom, and there wasn't really a place I felt like I belonged. And there wasn't a lot of support."
So Haley founded Kaleo Collective, the charity that runs Little Santas.
This is the second year the program will be delivering for families, and Haley said the need has more than tripled in 2021.
"The pandemic has been really hard on families. We're seeing that more and more," she said.
Lynn Kolpak knows that struggle well. That's why her restaurant, Socrates in St. Albert, provides the dinner.
"It's very close to my heart. I was raised by a single mom. And growing up there was always a stigma," she said.
For single mom Lennea Blanchard, being a single mom is tough at the best of times, but the holidays make her workload heavier.
"It's extra hard this time of year especially when you have to pick out the extra outfits for school. You need the meal. Everything comes together all at once," she said.
Blanchard received a gift from her sons last year, with help from Little Santas.
"Feeling some sort of pride being able to pick something for their parent on their own is huge," Blanchard said.
"It made me feel excited to pick something out for my mom," her son Rylan Voss said.
More information about the program, how to donate, and the companies that help support Little Santas is available online.
With files from CTV News Edmonton's Touria Izri
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
Decoy bear used to catch man who illegally killed a grizzly, B.C. conservation officers say
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
OPP responds to apparent video of officer supporting anti-Trudeau government protestors
The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) says it's investigating an interaction between a uniformed officer and anti-Trudeau government protestors after a video circulated on social media.
An emergency slide falls off a Delta Air Lines plane, forcing pilots to return to JFK in New York
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Loud boom in Hamilton caused by propane tank, police say
A loud explosion was heard across Hamilton on Friday after a propane tank was accidentally destroyed and detonated at a local scrap metal yard, police say.