The most requested gifts among children and adults were hats, scarves, and gloves.
One would expect kids to ask for toys or games as gifts. But what if they ask for the most basic things? That's what happened when Dunelm, the retail giant launched its Christmas appeal to deliver 'joy' this season. The staff was emotional looking at the requests from the children. In the initiative, the Dunelm stores have pre-written appeals on a Christmas tree in the store which the customers can take home, purchase, and return the selected gift to the store before December 11, as reported by the Liverpool Echo.
The most requested gifts among children and adults were hats, scarves, and gloves as well as chocolate for children and toiletries for adults. Kelly Nichols, who works at Dunelm in St Helens, shared appeals of kids and adults. She wrote, "How are we in 2022, and facing this?!"
"Help us to deliver Joy this year to so many people who are facing a Christmas with absolutely nothing. If you’d like to donate, but can’t get down to the store & collect a tag, I’m happy to send you some via Messenger, simply deliver them to us, at your convenience, before December 11," she wrote on Dunelm St. Helens Community Support page. The store allows one to buy a gift for children this year online as well. She said that the community's response has been positive. She wrote on Facebook, "I have just sent out our 200th tag via Messenger, we have the most amazing ladies waiting to receive tags in bulk for their schools and businesses to fulfill and we’re down to single figures on the tree in-store."
"We do have more tags on the way, but if you’d like to help now, please just buy a tin or packet of food from anywhere, and drop it into the store," she said. Nichols has been posting regular updates about the appeal. Recently she wrote that they have decided to provide donations to Wigan and Leigh Carers Centre, which is a non-profit which supports young and adult carers. "The response to our #DunelmDeliveringJoy appeal has absolutely amazed us, so much so, that I've just had a wonderful telephone call with Lisa and we're delighted to say that we now have Wigan and Leigh Carers Centre on board as a recipient of your donations. So many carers are weighed down with the responsibility of looking after a family member, that holidays, and themselves, are quite often forgotten, amidst the needs of others. We're hoping to be able to bring them a little relief this year, and let them know that they are important," she wrote.
References:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/162586851747418/user/1702828386/
Cover Image Source: Facebook/ Kelly Nichols
