For the fifth year in a row, Osoyoos senior Connie Osachoff (left) is organizing a Christmas Pyjama Drive to benefit school children from Osoyoos and the entire School District 53. Local residents can drop off new pairs of pyjamas at a donation bin set up inside the Sunshine Ridge Retirement Residence in Osoyoos. Helping out Osachoff with this year’s event is her friend and fellow Sunshine Ridge resident Mavis Adamson. (Keith Lacey Photo).
Dozens of young children from across the South Okanagan will have a smile on their faces Christmas morning as Osoyoos senior Connie Osachoff has once again organized the Christmas Pyjama Drive.
This will be the fifth consecutive year Osachoff has organized a Christmas pyjama drive in this area.
“We did it two years out of the Osoyoos Seniors Centre and this will be our third year here at Sunshine Ridge Retirement Residence,” said Osachoff.
Residents from Osoyoos, Oliver, Cawston and Okanagan Falls donated more than 120 pairs of pyjamas during last year’s event and Osachoff is confident that number will be met or surpassed this year.
A donation box has been set up inside the lobby at the Sunshine Ridge Retirement Residence and donations started being accepted earlier this week and will continue to be accepted until Dec. 12, said Osachoff.
All of the pyjamas will then be turned over to senior administration at School District 53 and teachers and senior staff will decide which students would benefit most from a new pair of pyjamas for Christmas, she said.
School District 53 board of trustees chair Marieze Tarr has been a strong supporter of the program and will once again be involved in ensuring the pyjamas go to children in need across the region, said Osachoff.
When she was a child growing up in the Lower Mainland, Osachoff said one thing she could always count on was a pair of warm pyjamas from her favourite aunt Florence.
“My auntie was an expert seamstress and she used to make sure me and my brothers and sisters all got a new nightgown or pair of pyjamas every single Christmas throughout my childhood,” she said. “I never forgot that. When I was looking for a project to help the community at Christmas … the first thing that came to my mind was a pyjama drive because there’s not a kid I know of that doesn’t like to see a nice new pair of pyjamas under the Christmas tree.”
Mavis Adamson, who has become a good friend since moving into Sunshine Ridge several months ago, is assisting Osachoff during this year’s Christmas pyjama drive.
“I asked Connie if she needed any help and I’m really looking forward to helping out any way that I can,” she said. “I agree with her that children always look forward to getting a nice new pair of pyjamas at Christmas time, so being part of this should be a lot of fun.”
The pyjama drive has become so successful because it provides local residents with an opportunity to make a kind gesture at a very reasonable price during the hectic Christmas holiday season, said Osachoff.
All of the pyjamas that are donated will be shipped to the School District office in Oliver after Dec. 12 and then wrapped and distributed before Christmas morning, she said.
Keith Lacey
Osoyoos Times
