While we are encouraged to consume local, some invite us instead to think local. What if we took care of our world this year?
I warn you, this column is about a defunct initiative. If I write about it, it is because it has haunted me for two years and I am convinced that it deserves to be reborn from its ashes. Whether in its original form or in an explosion of solidarity gestures…
It’s the reverse advent calendar.
Maybe that means something to you? For Christmas 2020, Montrealers were being asked to donate one item a day rather than eat a daily chocolate (although one probably didn’t preclude the other). The concept was simple: you had to put 25 objects in a box, wrap the box nicely and leave it at a collection point. The boxes were then given to residents of various shelters in the city.
I participated in the exercise, and one thing quickly struck me: it required conscious empathy. You know, we are often called upon to give during the holiday season. Of course, for a moment, we think of the person who will receive our non-perishable food or our few dollars, but for the first time, I had to very consciously put myself in the shoes of an individual without a home or security.
What 25 items might a person spending Christmas in a shelter need?
I come across these people every day. However, I know nothing of their desires.
I spent hours trying to find the perfect balance between the useful, the soft and the essential. I wanted my box to have the effect of a gift, but do you really know how to warm the hearts of people you ignore all year round?
The reverse advent calendar was a dive into what I avoid seeing around me. Namely the fact that there are people who simply hope to receive hygiene products, underwear, canned food, flashlights or something to keep their hands less cold.
The instigator of the reverse advent calendar encouraged us all the same not to forget the daily pleasures. Why not add a book, notebook, deck of cards or cookies to our box? As long as we put aside alcohol and objects likely to break…
PHOTO PROVIDED BY MAÏTÉ PETIT
Maite Petit
To draw up this list of suggestions, Maïté Petit relied on the recommendations of various accommodation resources. Because quickly, many were charmed by its reverse advent calendars: Old Brewery Mission, Native Projects of Quebec and Maison Oxygène, among others. However, in a few weeks, Maïté received so many boxes that more organizations had to be found! Logifem and Moisson Montréal have joined the group to make more people happy.
The Montrealers finally offered 637 boxes, leaving the instigator of the project blown away by so much commitment.
It doesn’t look like much, but it’s asking to select 25 objects! And what I especially liked was the whole human chain that it created… From the people who made the boxes to those who received them, passing through the collection points who played the game. had a tattoo parlour, coworking space, shops, cafes, supermarkets. The reach of the thing was huge!
Maïté Petit, instigator of the reverse advent calendar in Montreal
Across the city, local networks have formed to support the community. All this thanks to the simple appeal launched by a psychologist who had been on maternity leave for nine months… “I think I needed to do something, summarizes Maïté Petit, laughing. I wanted to wear even more than my baby! »
The idea, however, did not fall from the sky. Maïté was browsing Facebook when she saw a post about a reverse advent calendar in France. A call for solidarity and human action launched by the association The unexpected bubble.
It was immediately clear: we had to do this at home too!
She wrote to Mangaïa Bar, one of the two instigators of the French project, who gave her some advice on founding a Montreal section. On November 14 (read: five weeks from Christmas!), the psychologist therefore embarked on the creation of advertisements, the search for refuges and the recruitment of places of collection.
“I wanted it to reach as many people as possible! »
PHOTO FROM THE INVERTED ADVENT CALENDAR FACEBOOK PAGE
Well-filled truck that will delight the less fortunate.
The response was so positive that Maïté Petit, amazed, had to rent a truck to distribute all the boxes she received…
Looking back, that was a lot to deal with. Back at work – and now aware of the colossal magnitude of the task – the psychologist did not dare to repeat the exercise. On the other hand, she dreams that a group will do it and she is convinced that the project would be successful. After all, several people wrote to him hoping that the experience would be repeated…
In the meantime, nothing prevents us from offering such boxes to organizations that know how to use them well, but Maïté Petit offers even simpler solutions.
“Our approach doesn’t have to be complicated! We can contact organizations in our neighborhood to find out what their needs are or leave food in a community fridge. We don’t necessarily have to put objects in a box to be mutually supportive. It also goes through everyday gestures, by noticing what the people around us need. »
The psychologist advocates great spontaneous ideas as well as outstretched elbows to help seniors cross an icy street. She hopes for a variety of gestures to remind our community that we form a united group. That mutual aid has not been numbed by winter.
“I want these gestures to become contagious! Isn’t that the spirit of Christmas? »