Foundation thanks AMJ Campbell for their generous donation to the Paediatric Ward and CAMHU
Published Tuesday, January 11, 2022
Pictured from Left to Right are: Sam Galati (Sales Relocation Manager), Saira VanderWees (Co-Owner of AMJ Campbell) and Chad Cameron (Operation Manager).
The Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Foundation would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to AMJ Campbell Van Lines Thunder Bay, who delivered 65 boxes of Christmas gifts for kids in the Paediatric Ward and Child & Adolescent Mental Health Unit in December!
Each box contained individually wrapped presents - including toys, personal care items, activities, and craft supplies. The gifts were then distributed to any patients who were in the Hospital during the holiday season. In the Child & Adolescent Mental Health Unit, gifts were placed under the tree on Christmas Eve for staff to distribute to patients when they woke up the next morning. The rest will be distributed to Paeds and Peads Outpatient patients and their families throughout the year.
Saira and Wayne VanderWees are the new owners of AMJ Campbell Van Lines Thunder Bay, and when they were moving to their new warehouse, they came across hundreds of shoe boxes filled with toys, clothes and other items in storage. Saira and Wayne could not find any record of where the boxes came from, and they had been stored since 2018. The boxes were already wrapped and ready to be distributed. AMJ Campbell employees went through each box to ensure everything was brand new and not expired, and then re-packaged everything up to bring to the Hospital.
Saira is also a nurse with the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre, and she was so excited to be able to make this donation and to do something special for local children visiting the hospital during the holidays.
“We donated 500 gifts, which means that children and youth visiting the hospital will not only be receiving them during the holiday season, but throughout the year. We are so happy to be able to make someone’s day and put a smile on children’s faces”, she said. “AMJ Campbell is a family-oriented company, and our employees were very excited about this project and the idea of contributing to our community!”
Hospital staff could not believe the size of the donation. Amy Halvorsen, Manager, Paediatrics & Paediatric Outpatient and Amanda Merkley, Child Life Specialist, helped facilitate receiving these gifts. They were beyond appreciative, and mentioned how these gifts would really help make a child’s visit to the Hospital a bit better. "This was such an amazing donation that included items for all of our kids from toddlers up to 16 years of age! A wonderful selection of items including toys for play and distraction from their illness or pain and personal items to provide comfort while away from home,” says Amy. “This was such generous donation that it will provide care packages to our patients for a long time to come! Thank you so much AMJ Campbell!” says Amanda.
“I have never received an in-kind donation of this size in my 15 years at the Foundation,” said Athena Kreiner, Director of Annual Giving at the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Foundation. “This generosity both shocked and moved me as the boxes kept being delivered... I couldn't believe they kept on coming out of their truck! They were really like Santa Claus!”
Jenny Stewart, Manager, Child & Adolescent Mental Health, said, “The donation that we received was unlike anything we have ever seen! I know I can speak for both our staff and our patients when I say how thankful we are for AMJ Campbell, and for the extremely generous donation that really help bring some happiness to patients visiting the hospital during the holidays.”