Wishlist

Gift Cards:

Did You Know that we use gift cards throughout the year to assist families in selecting what they most need. This provides mothers independence in making their own selections of what their family truly needs, while encouraging them to expand their skill set and learn how to navigate the city, public transport, stores available, and making their own purchasing decisions. These aspects have often been hampered or completely cut off by former abusers.

Most needed gift cards: Walmart, Superstore, Safeway

Kids Items:

Did You Know that we ALWAYS have more children than adults at the Centre? The vast majority of our residents have children, many of which have 2-3 children. And, of those children, most are under the age of 5.

Most needed items:

• Baby food – jars and pouches
• Diapers (sizes 3,4, 5, 6) and Pull-Ups (Sleeves and Open boxes accepted) WHY?  Babies are only in newborn – size 2 diapers for short periods of time. Once babies and toddlers get older and stop growing so quickly, they stay in a larger size for a longer period of time. The majority of kids at the Centre are in larger size diapers, sizes 3+
• Baby wipes (refills and opened boxes accepted, bags should be sealed)

Home Items:

Did You Know that we fully furnish and stage apartments for all families moving in? We ensure the apartment is move in ready, complete with furniture, décor, linens, toiletries, kitchen ware, and welcome gifts.

Most Needed Items:

• Pillows (New)
• Twin comforters and sheets (New)
• Throw Pillows (New or very gently used)
• Bath mats (New)
• All purpose cleaner (Unopened)
• Liquid Dish soap (Unopened)
• High Efficiency Pods style laundry detergent (Open or unopened packages)

Items we cannot accept and gratefully decline:

Due to health and safety considerations, and storage limitations, we are not able to accept furniture, used clothing or footwear, or baby gear such as highchairs, car seats, cribs, strollers, etc.

Don’t see it on our Wishlist?:

Did You Know that residents can stay with us for up to two years? This results in a lower turnover than a traditional emergency shelter, which means that once a family is settled into the building in their fully furnished suite, their need for personal items is diminished. This, paired with a lack of storage space, limits what we can take in for donation. We work with numerous agencies that specialize in distributing donations throughout the city. Those groups support our residents when a need arises. If you have something to donate that isn’t on our list, please consider donating to the following groups:

WINS (Women in Need Society): Accepts furniture, household goods, and clothing. Women In Need Society | Supporting Vulnerable Women & Their Children (winsyyc.ca)

The Drop-In Centre: Accepts furniture, household goods, and clothing https://calgarydropin.ca/donatefreegoods/

Calgary Inter-Faith Furniture Store: Accepts furniture and household goods We Accept | Calgary Inter-Faith Furniture Society (interfaithfurniture.ca)

Project Warmth: Accepts outerwear, sleeping bags, blankets, toques, mitts, scarves How To Help – Project Warmth

Made By Momma: Accepts baby and childrens clothing, gear, and toys Made by Momma – Donations Needed

Not sure if we can use an item or not? Have a question about making a donation?  Please email Nikki at n.knopp@brendastraffordsociety.org