After losing her father earlier this year, Renata Meconse is hoping to honour him by organizing a gift drive for First Nations elders in a Winnipeg care home.

“I wanted to do things differently for Christmas this year to help offset my grief, but also to honour his memory, too,” said Meconse.

Meconse is the daughter of Joseph Meconse, who died in February. Joseph Meconse, who was Sayisi Dene, had served with the Canadian Armed Forces on peacekeeping missions and was a recipient of the Order of Manitoba for his work promoting awareness of Indigenous veterans. 

“He always used to give little gifts all the time to people,” said Meconse.

“After his passing, people would tell me about little things that he gave them and I think this is just kind of an extension of him doing that.” 

Meconse described her father as someone who was kind and loved being with family over the Christmas holidays.

The elder Meconse had his own Christmas traditions. According to Renata, he always made sure to be dressed nicely on Dec. 25. He would also buy a turkey every year but would always get someone else to cook it, a tradition that she likes to chuckle at today.

Gift drive

This past weekend, Meconse and her friend Shylo Swan organized an Indigenous arts and crafts showcase. 

At the showcase, there was a stack of holiday greeting cards laid out on a table. Visitors were encouraged to write personal messages on the cards to the seniors living at the Southeast Personal Care Home.

Meconse’s plan is to gather donations of small gifts or cash to buy gifts, with the gifts to be delivered with the greeting cards on Dec. 25.

“It makes people feel good to be able to give to others and to show kindness,” said Meconse.

“And that’s something that my dad always did with people, so this is an extension of the way he was. And to do that for elders I think is important.”

At the showcase, Meconse held a 50/50 raffle and said she raised just over $200. She is hoping to have enough small gifts for close to 80 elders.

Swan said that they are looking for gifts like toiletries, slippers, socks, board games or puzzles. Donations are also being accepted at the Southeast Personal Care Home.

Visiting the elders a family affair

Both Meconse and Swan talked about the importance of spending time with elders over the holidays and both plan to take their families with them to the care home when they drop off the gifts on Christmas.

“I think that a lot of times the elders are forgotten about and everybody’s so involved in their own daily lives that we forget about elders that are alone on Christmas,” said Swan.

“I want to teach my kids to be mindful of them because they’re the reason that we’re here and they’re the ones who hold our knowledge and our cultures.”

For the holidays, Meconse is hoping that other people will consider visiting and giving back to the elders in their communities as well.

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