Gabrielle Armstrong (left) and brother Dimitri are creating gift baskets and distributing them to healthcare staff at Royal Inland Hospital in Kamloops.
Image Credit: SUBMITTED/ Alexandra Karpoff Armstrong
September 18, 2021 - 3:25 PM
A brother and sister in Kamloops are contributing gift baskets to all departments at Royal Inland Hospital in support of the health-care staff.
The idea was born out of an incident that sent the brother, Dimitri, to hospital earlier this month to get stitches after having have a wakeboarding accident. After Dimitri received treatment in the emergency department, mom Alexandra Karpoff Armstrong said her kids wanted to give back to the nurses.
“We were so grateful to receive such great care,” Armstrong said. “We created a gift basket filled with treats and a note thanking the doctor and nurses who stitched him up. The staff appreciated it so much that the kids decided to start a bottle drive and use the proceeds to make more baskets to distribute to all departments at the hospital.”
To date, Dimitri and his sister Gabby have distributed over 50 baskets. They plan to keep going and deliver to ambulance stations and hospices in the area. Armstrong said they are spending about two hours per day collecting bottles and putting baskets together.
“The community has supported us through so many fundraisers the kids have done,” she said. “This is our way of giving back to Kamloops. I am very proud of my kids. It is very easy to find negatives everywhere right now, but we can always find and spread joy.”
This isn’t the first time this brother and sister team has done a bottle drive to raise money for a good cause. In May and June of 2020, they raised over $12,000 for the B.C. Wildlife Park.
READ MORE: Brother and sister bottle drive pays for month of food at B.C. Wildlife Park
Armstrong said she appreciates everything healthcare staff are doing and that she hopes they stay strong and know they are supported.
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