No matter how we try to dress it up, the last two years have sucked. It hasn’t just been the COVID-19 pandemic (with a new variant every few weeks, it seems), but the last twenty four months have been chalk full of natural disasters, political strife, discoveries of mass graves full of children, miserable economic news and many of us have been forced to say good-bye to someone well before their time. And if we’re being genuinely honest, all of us have lost respect for a person or five in our personal orbits, be it family, friend or even a former teacher or two.
Even the hobbies and passions we normally took refuge in were denied us for months at a time while we took shelter and waited for Mother Nature’s newest biological storm to pass.
No one will remember the last two years with anything other than contempt. And it’s not over yet.
So while this Christmas may not seem as bleak as last year’s, you’d be forgiven for feeling exhausted. 2020 and 2021 have taken an enormous toll on our minds and souls as well as our bodies, pushing too many people against too many limits. Better days can’t come soon enough.
So what does this cheery recap have to do with Yuletide 2021? Well right about now we’re all looking for a some kind of balm for our weary spirits and while Christmas may have been that tonic in the past, it may not be able to do it for us this year. Except . . .
You’re probably already doing everything you can to keep yourself sane and healthy, but are still feeling incomplete. And for the life of you, you can’t think of what else you can do to fill the hole the last two years have punched in your psycho-emotional gut.
But what if the answer lies in helping someone else? No one’s suggesting you change the world, but if the simplest gesture of kindness and caring can bring a welcome smile to your face and heart, isn’t this the time to do it?
COVID-19 has even impacted our collective generosity, but there are still ways you can help. Still ways you can reach out. And if that’s the case, what’s stopping you from jumping at the chance?
The past few Christmas’, The Nerd Is The Word has run a toy drive to benefit the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario and Ottawa’s Toy Mountain. We put up our Nerdmas Tree (full of decorations that embrace both Christmas and our favourite movies, TV shows, comic books and everything else Nerdy) and collected as many toys as we can to put under it. The majority goes to CHEO but we also make a small donation to Toy Mountain at the annual Santa Claus parade in November.
Well, COVID forced Santa to cancel his regular trip down Bank street last year and even forced CHEO to turn away public toy donations in 2020 (don’t forget, the world found itself at the height of the Pandemic last Christmas and many children who call CHEO home are immune-compromised).
But apathy only wins if you let it and last year we told it to drop dead.
Despite all the challenges (Ontario endured three lockdowns between March of 2020 and May of 2021, including one that started last Boxing Day) we still managed to collect a fair amount of toys. And since we couldn’t give them to CHEO, we donated them all to Toy Mountain (who laboured on despite the Pandemic).
Don’t worry, we didn’t forget about CHEO. While we couldn’t donate toys, we made a small financial donation instead. We wish it could have been a million times bigger but every little bit helps. Especially for sick kids at Christmas.
Fast forward to Noel of 2021 and we live in a completely different yet cautiously dangerous world. CHEO is accepting donations again, but only from trusted organizations (don’t worry, we made the cut) and even though Santa’s trip to the Nations’ Capital was watered down and late this year, Toy Mountain is back in full operation.
So here’s how you can help.
While we’ve already wrapped up our toy collecting efforts for this Christmas (with an eye on expanding it next year), you can make a donation to the CHEO foundation here. Whether it’s helping ease administrative costs, paying a nurse’s salary or helping buy vital new equipment, every dollar benefits the kids in one of Canada’s best hospitals devoted to kids.
Looking to donate a toy? Excellent. You can donate a new, unwrapped one to Toy Mountain at any of these locations in Ottawa until Friday, December 17th. You can even volunteer to help them sort toys at their warehouse. You can also make a financial donation as well (Toy Mountain’s website allows you to donate to ten different cities north of the border).
So yeah, the world still kinda sucks and odds are it’s getting you down. And this year’s muted Christmas hijinks may not be enough to pull you out of it. But there are still ways to show the gray taunts of despair that you have plenty of life left in you. Extending a helping hand to the most vulnerable and most innocent during difficult and troubled times isn’t only the best way to bring some welcome warmth your heart, but also to show the world that while others may bow and break, you’re still standing. To show it your heart is still as strong as your fangs are sharp and your will resolute.
And that you’ll help as many as possible while you remain tall.
