Marketing firm behind free Christmas ‘shopping’ spree for students

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This article was published 15/12/2016 (3583 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Until Thursday, Raelynn Beaton wasn’t sure how she was going to buy Christmas gifts for her mom and two brothers.

Then Think Shift, a local digital marketing and branding firm, opened a one-day pop-up shop in an event called Make Nice Happen at R.B. Russell Vocational High School, which allowed 450 students, including Raelynn, to “shop” for family members’ gifts, free of charge.

There were about 2,000 donated gifts available, enough for the R.B. Russell high-schoolers and mature students and grades 4-6 kids from nearby David Livingstone School to select three items from the brightly decorated tables, hanging racks and stacks on the floor.

“This helped a lot because I didn’t have money, really,” said Raelynn, a 15-year-old Grade 9 student.

Donations came from Think Shift’s 60 employees, their families and friends, clients, sponsors and a GoFundMe crowd-source campaign that raised nearly $3,000.

Cheery Christmas carols played as students, paired with a helpful Think Shift volunteer, milled about the buzzing gym.

“I got stuff for my mom and my brother,” said 10-year-old Desmond, who was waiting for his turn to go into the room where volunteers wrapped the gifts. “I’ll feel happy.”

Allyson Regier, a guidance counsellor at R.B. Russell, said the staff at the school had tried to put on a similar event over the past two Christmas seasons but just didn’t have the resources. They held random draws for gifts because there weren’t enough for all the students.

“When Think Shift approached us and said they’d have hundreds of things and all of our students could get something, we were absolutely thrilled,” Regier said watching excited students fill shopping bags donated by IKEA. “We are all so tremendously grateful.

“It’s giving students voice and choice, especially when they don’t always have that, day-to-day. To be able to go into this environment, to get whatever they want, to give to whoever they want, that’s an empowering piece because financially, it’s just not possible (for the students). This is a very special, memorable thing that could change their holiday break for them. Some of these kids weren’t looking forward to that, until now.”

Michelle Braun, the event’s chairwoman, said it is the third year for the Think Shift’s Make Nice Happen event.

“It’s been amazing,” Braun said. “It started out as doing good deeds during the season but we just decided we wanted to something along the same lines but bigger and better to touch more peoples’ lives. We really focused in on underprivileged youth and this is a way they can give gifts to their families. It (gift-giving) is really one of the best parts of the holidays and not everybody is lucky enough to be able to do that.”

The range of gift items was vast: housewares, clothing, winter wear, art, jewelry, books and a variety of toys for babies, toddlers and older children.

Ashlee Lambkin, 22, who is taking biology at R.B. Russell so she can go into nursing, said the opportunity to get gifts for her three children relieved some of the financial pressure she’s dealing with.

“This is an amazing thing… this is going to change our Christmas,” Lambkin said. She found a toy IKEA baking kit for her four-year-old daughter, a Lego set for her two-year-old son and a talking Sesame Street book for her baby boy, who just had his first birthday.

Kurtis Higenell, who is taking math and English courses, found a framed piece of art for his mother and earrings for his sister.

“This is helping me a lot. I don’t usually leave my house a lot and I have to walk everywhere,” he said. “I’m going to feel really good (to give the gifts) and I hope they like them.”

Christy Hatch, a student in the school’s child-care program, got a candle set and a book for her grandmother and her mom.

“It’s so nice how many people donated here for stuff for us to give to our families,” said Hatch, 19.

ashley.prest@freepress.mb.ca