INNISFAIL – For the 30th consecutive year it was pajama time at The Gift Loft for both staff and customers.
For the past three decades the annual PJ party was typically held as an early morning fun customer appreciation event during a week day in the fall. Pajama clad staff at The Gift Loft encouraged downtown shoppers to join in on the fun and drop by in their “jammies” to have coffee, treats and take advantage of discounts and draws.
But this year the PJ party was a little different. COVID is still threat and there was a need to keep shoppers safely distanced, and the party was held later in the day and on Nov. 14, which was a Sunday.
And there was also a deeply personal reason for staff to mark an important difference this year.
They wanted to put the focus of the event to remember and honour former employee Isabel Jean Beauchamp who passed away on Oct. 24 at the age of 85. In the later years of her life Isabel was afflicted with dementia.
“She was the one who first talked me into doing it (PJ party),” said Danna Melnyk, the owner of The Gift Loft for the past 41 years.
“It is our one and only sale we have during the year. It took her a year to talk me into doing it, and she did, and so 30 years later we are still doing it.”
This year Isabel was front and centre on everyone’s mind and heart. The Gift Loft staff decided to take a percentage of their sales from the 2021 PJ party to honour their late colleague and friend. They then donated $600 in Isabel’s name to the Community Partners in Action, which includes members from Alberta Health Services, Wolf Creek Primary Care Network, the Town of Innisfail and Innisfail FCSS, for the town’s ongoing award-winning Dementia Friendly Initiative.
“We are really excited to accept this donation and the funds will go towards current and future programs in Innisfail that support people living with dementia and their care-partners,” said Ellen Helgason, community recreation therapist with Alberta Health Services, and a member of the team that won this year’s RhPAP Rhapsody Health-care Heroes Award.
“It is because of businesses like The Gift Loft that we are able to support citizens in the community and why the Town of Innisfail is a Dementia Friendly Community that supports all who live here.”
As for this year’s event, and its changing focus, Melnyk said she believes the fundraiser component was a success and it will likely continue into the future.
“I was super impressed with the turnout, the people and how glad everybody was that a portion was going to Isabel and the Dementia Friendly Initiative,” said Melnyk.
