Operation Christmas Child a Great Success!

Hundreds of smiling and enthusiastic students loading close to 5000 gift-filled shoeboxes into 15 waiting ambulances, assisted (somewhat) by 30 plus paramedics...it was a sight to behold and an experience that I'm proud to have been a small part of!

This marked the fifth year that EMS in Manitoba has partnered with Operation Christmas Child. Five years ago, one ambulance collected gift boxes from one school. This year paramedics from six regions of the province visited 40 schools and collected about 5000 shoeboxes before converging to parade on the streets of Winnipeg...a sight that may well rival even this week's Grey Cup parade.

I want to congratulate everyone who took time to participate in this very worth while event. A very special thank-you to Meaghan Webb, who spent countless hours organizing and coordinating OCC right across the province. Thanks to Meaghan and paramedics from Assiniboine, Central, Interlake, North-East, South-East and Winnipeg regions, at least 5000 underprivileged kids living in some of the worst conditions imaginable will have a reason to smile this Christmas.