Special presents were handed out at Christmas Haven this year, specifically for children and youth, thanks to a local high school student who wanted to make a difference.
Brooklyn Nicholson, a Grade 12 student at Westview Secondary School, handed out 144 special gift packs – 70 for teens and another 74 for children – at the community event that has been taking place on Christmas Eve since 1998.
Christmas Haven is a free, non-denominational celebration for anyone who doesn’t want to be alone for Christmas. In recent years it has been taking place at The ACT Arts Centre, in the heart of downtown Maple Ridge.
In September, Nicholson, whose mother Andrea Nicholson is on the committee for Christmas Haven, decided she wanted to do something to help other teenagers in the community, who might not be as privileged as herself.
The leadership student held a craft fair at Westview Secondary, and had 60 vendors take part, raising $2,400 for the teen packs, which she loaded with various hygiene and hair products, along with gift cards from local businesses including Subway and Boston Pizza.
She also managed to put together another 74 packs for children, and donated the left over money to Christmas Haven itself.
Hundreds of people came out to the celebration this year.
The final count for this year was 328 people, said Christmas Haven committee chair, Alyson Cuthbertson.
Last year, she noted about 345 people attended the event, but years prior to 2024, attendance was below 300.
So, this year was about average, she said.
And Cuthbertson added, the event went off “super smooth”, with a lot of returning faces, along with new faces.
The event was catered by Humble Roots, and staff there cooked six turkeys, which de-boned weighed about 125 pounds, along with 25 litres of gravy, another 125 pounds of potatoes, and more than 100 pounds of vegetables, for the event.
“The calculations are wild,” said Humble Roots owner and operator Tyler Towe, noting they had been prepping the food for days.
Joan Marr, 92, and a proud Scot, was one attendee who had a great time with her friends, Adele Johnston, 84, Paula Brown, 68, and Margot Feuchuk, 81.
Johnston and Feuchuk have been at Christmas Haven for the past five years and enjoy having something to do on Christmas Eve.
Brown, who lives in Mission, has been at Christmas Haven for the past two to three years, and said she is always impressed with how “lovely” the event is.
Marr said if it wasn’t for Christmas Haven, she would be home alone for Christmas, and so would each of her friends.
She described the event as the “essence of fellowship.”
“It’s an opportunity to really experience fellowship on Christmas Eve. And, that’s what we need to practise every day of the year,” said Marr.
“We’re here with all, every walk of life and that is important,” she said.
Nicholson plans to be at the event again next year handing out more packs for teens and children.
Packs left over from this year, will be put aside for next years event, said Cuthbertson, except for the gift cards which Nicholson was planning to give to her school so they can still reach teens in need in the New Year.