Once again, the ‘Giving Tree’ was set up at Canadian Tire, and it didn’t take long for the generous residents of Martensville and area to ensure that all children with names on the tree would receive a gift this year.
For those that are not familiar with the ‘Giving Tree’, it is a beautiful Christmas tree that is filled with ornaments created by students at École Holy Mary Catholic School in Martensville. Each of the ornaments has a child’s name, age and gender on it. “As people are out doing their shopping, they can choose an ornament off of the tree and return a gift for that child under the tree before Christmas. People are meant to hang their ornament on their tree at home as a reminder of what Christmas is really about,” Margaret Nicholls, organizer of the ‘Giving Tree’, explained. Each year, approximately 120 receive gifts thanks to those that contribute to the ‘Giving Tree’.
The tree has been a part of the holidays in Martensville since 2016, and was something that Nicholls had seen at a Moksha Yoga studio in Ontario. Thinking it would be a nice addition to the community, Nicholls set to work and was pleased with how well received the idea was. “It all started out as an assignment in yoga teacher training. The assignment was to find a way to give back to your community. I loved the idea so I chose to do this for my assignment. The support from the community was amazing, so I have kept it going each year,” Nicholls added.
