Project Snowflake: This secret Santa brings joy to seniors in St. John's

A special secret Santa project at a St. John's retirement home makes sure residents wake up to gifts under the tree on Christmas Day.

For the past six years, the "Snowflake Project" has been making seniors' wishes come true at St. Luke's Community Living.

Krista Domino, the home's adult day program co-ordinator, says when she and her co-workers came up with the idea in 2016, they wanted something that would resonate with St. Luke's.

"We picked snowflakes for winter and snow, and it was something we felt we could run with," she told CBC News on Monday.

St. Luke's offers affordable housing as well as long-term care, and Domino says residents in both are targeted with the Snowflake Project.

Many residents, says Domino, receive a "comforts allowance" of $125 a month from the provincial government that they use to pay for their phone bills or to get their hair done.

But often there is no money left to buy more expensive personal-care items, and that was one of the reasons they started the program.

"We have residents in long-term care that maybe don't have any family or, you know, just for whatever reasons their income is lower. So [when] we started out, that was the main reason," said Domino.

"Now we pick people because they could just use a little bit of happiness or, you know, brighten up their Christmas."

One of the residents picked to experience some Christmas joy is Evelyn Jones.

For her, the secret Santa is a sign of affection by the staff. She said she loves living at St. Luke's because of people like Domino.

"I got my family at St. Luke's," said Jones, who has been living at St. Luke's for the past 11 years.

"Last year, my God, I got clothes last year and chocolates and shoes," said Jones. "Snow boots. I got a lot of stuff last year, blankets and everything."

This year, Jones asked for personal-care items.