'Magic' of Christmas cards shared with thousands of homeless Calgarians

Barb Marshall wants every homeless person in Calgary to have a bit of Christmas cheer.

She's collecting, now for the third year, handwritten holiday cards, and likely thousands of them.

Last year, she received nearly 4,000 she thinks. She stopped counting after 3,000, the number requested by local homeless service groups.

The idea, she says, touches people, and they respond en masse. The cards are equally welcomed by the recipients, too.

"It's a simple thing but the magic of it is, it has huge impact," Marshall said.

Marshall got the idea in 2015 after sending out her batch of annual Christmas cards.

She had attended a function for the Calgary Drop-In Centre and wondered when was the last time the residents had received a card. The next year, she started the collection and founded MakeItMerry, the group that organizes the effort.

"Because I know how much I love that, and so it sort of went from there," she said.

She's received cards from as far away as China, and school kids in Alberta send in handmade ones as a class.

Any surplus cards are taken to shelters in other cities or saved for the next year, Marshall said.

If you'd like to send a card but you're not sure what to write, Marshall has a few tips:

• Start your card with a general but personal greeting, such as "dear friend," or "hi, how are you."
• Say something about yourself, like if you're a teacher or have three kids.
• If a kid is making a card, consider tellinga joke or drawing a picture.
• Keep the message friendly with thoughts like you hope they have a nice Christmas, that they stay warm and have a great New Year.
• Sign the card by hand with your first name.

The group also asks that you send the card in an unsealed envelopeas all cards are read by volunteers to ensure the messages are positive.

"There's this invisibility factor with those that are homeless, so the purpose of the card is to make someone who deserves some merry at Christmas to feel loved and cared for," Marshall said.

On Sunday,the groupis holding a card-making session for people who are homeless who want to write or make a card for their family and friends.The organization, which is a non-profit, will mail those cards for them.

The event, which will be held at Feed the Hungry in Mission, will provide stamps, cards and pens. Alaptop will be available to look up postal codes.

The group is not a charity, so it can't provide receipts, but it does accept blank cards, craft supplies and stamps. Another session will be held in December at the Drop-In Centre, Marshall said.

Completed cards can be mailed to:MakeItMerry, P.O. Box 96107,West Springs, Calgary, AB,T3H 0L3, or dropped off at participating ATB locations around Calgary.

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With files from Angela Knight and theCalgary Eyeopener.