Verica and her friend with twins, Zoe and Mira at the Women's Health Centre.

Verica Savic-Jovcic immigrated to Canada with her husband after spending 12 years abroad. The happy couple settled down just in time for the birth of their twin daughters, Zoe and Mira. Shortly after their birth Savic-Jovcic and her daughters began attending the programs at the Women’s Health Centre. This year the Savic-Jovcic family was one of 184 families to receive toys and food vouchers through the 2009 Sharing the Spirit of Christmas campaign.

The Sharing the Spirit of Christmas campaign is a yearly initiative through the Women’s Health Centre that has been collecting donations and helping families in our community since 1994.

This year the Women’s Health Centre (WHC) was able to collect $9,300 through the generous donations made by St. Joseph’s staff, physicians and volunteers. The money raised bought food vouchers for184 families in our community who participate in our pre-and post-natal support programs and counselling services, and helped to purchase small gifts for their 303 children.

“One of the toys that we received from the Women’s Health Centre is flashy and plays songs. The toy is a big help at feeding time for the girls because they open their mouth and are really happy when it plays the songs,” said Savic-Jovcic. “We don’t really have any flashy toys, but when we got this one the girls loved it! I don’t even mind hearing the song over and over again if it means that they are eating.”

The twins are now almost 10 months old and enjoy spending time with the other children and families that come to the WHC on a weekly basis - especially during Mom & Baby Circle Time where they do songs and stories with lots of actions and involvement from everyone that attends. “Through the program here I have learned lots of songs and whenever the girls are fussy at home, I just start singing and they cheer up,” said Savic-Jovcic.

A celebration lunch was held for the families of the programs within the WHC just before Christmas where staff handed out the small gifts and food vouchers. “The money that we received has definitely helped me to buy things for the holiday season that I wouldn’t have been able to before. The lunch that they held for us was beautiful and put me in the (holiday) spirit,” said Savic-Jovcic.

The Sharing the Spirit Campaign would not have been possible without the assistance from all of our community partners for their generous contributions and ongoing dedication to making this a truly successful campaign.

Thank you to each one of you for personally making a difference for families in our community and for helping to make this a very successful campaign.

For more information about the Women’s Health Centre, please click here.

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Page last updated: April 30, 2010