These 18 gift bags are filled with donations from students at the military’s Language Training Centre (Atlantic) in Shearwater, Nova Scotia. They’re going to vets at the Camp Hill Veterans Hospital for Christmas. From left: to right: Master Cpl. Andrew Hayes, Master Cpl. Leslie Blair and Master Seaman Chris Evans.

More than once, Master Cpl. Leslie Blair’s friends have reminded her that she’s not Oprah.

While their net worths are perhaps not exactly in the same league, they do share a love of giving at Christmas.

For Blair, her plan to give took root two years ago while attending a Remembrance Day service, as she looked around at everyone in uniform and the many from the community that had come out to pay tribute to the sacrifices Canada’s soldiers have made.

“It was a beautiful day, where you felt that you’d taken on a great thing by signing up to serve your country,” she recalls.

“You could feel the support, but as I drove home all I could think about was the fact that we only think of our veterans on one day of the year. I thought if people are already thinking about them in November, what can I do to get them to think that way until Christmas?”



Last year, that thought became Santa for Veterans. Blair launched her project to give back at 12 Wing Shearwater in Nova Scotia. For vets who are alone during the holidays, having a hard time, are homeless or overseas, she was determined to make sure they knew someone was thinking about them. She wanted each of them to have a gift of some kind: a present, a visit, a card, a call, a meal.

“I’m huge into mental health and helping people who are going through tough times. That’s what spurred this on for me, because Christmas can be pretty damn lonely,” she says.

“I wanted them to know they are never alone. We’re taught in the Canadian Forces to stick together and to take care of each other. Retired or not, we are always connected. We come from all walks of life, but we are joined forever by one simple decision — to serve Canada before self.”

On a whim, Blair shared her idea with friends on her Facebook page and with close friends at work — and recruited them to help her. She sought out the names of veterans they knew (or knew of) who might be having a hard time.

She got approval from the wing commander to put boxes in all units at the base to collect gifts and necessities, and reached out to a group called Soldiers helping Soldiers that targets homeless veterans for a list of items individuals might need.

Before long, her friends and fellow soldiers were reaching out to 32 veterans in need.

In one case, that meant filling a new apartment with a bed and necessities for someone who couldn’t afford to. In another, it meant visiting a vet who had just moved to a new town where she was alone and knew no one. Elves hopped in their car to visit the woman, took her out to lunch and have since helped her move.

“We went and sat with them, spent time with them, checked on them and gave them a contact in case they needed anything,” Blair says of their veterans.

This year, the program has expanded with volunteers in every province and another coordinator in Ottawa, who will be delivering gifts in the capital.

Like last year, however, all care packages for homeless veterans and veterans in long-term care facilities across Canada will still be put together by the Santa for Veterans team in Shearwater. Items in those package are donated by Nova Scotians.

The bags are coloured and decorated by local students at Shannon Park Elementary School and then delivered across Canada by military members heading home for the holidays.

Other gifts will find their way thanks to retired CAF members, military families and people who aren’t necessarily in the military, but want to help.

It’s word of mouth and social media that continues to drive this, but Blair says Veterans Affairs has also been a great help, passing along the names of people they’ve housed or vets that don’t really fall within the scope of their services.

“One guy had just lost his wife and had gone through some medical issues as well. They forwarded his name to us, so we went and had dinner with him last year,” she says.

This year they’re in touch again and are going to cook dinner for him.

The approach is very much tailored to the recipient and their needs. It can be as simple as a kind gesture of camaraderie.

“If they have anxiety or don’t go out often, I’m not going to send someone to their door,” Blair says. “But in other instances it’s very clear they would love to have someone visit.”

That was the case for an older Air Force vet, so a serving member of the RCAF went and sat with him for hours to talk about his experience.

“I don’t care what your story is, if you’re not getting a gift at Christmas, you will get a gift from us,” Blair says. “I’m just trying to cut out the middle man. If you want to help someone and someone needs help, I’m going to pair you up.”

Ultimately, she’d like to have every wing, base and unit in the country taking care of people in their area this time of year, but knows she has to start small. And while it’s an exhausting undertaking, it’s been incredibly heartwarming.

“My heart is literally 8,000 times bigger. There is nothing more I could ask for to fulfill the meaning of Christmas in my heart than this program,” Blair says.

“It truly is the thought that counts. That’s what rings true with this initiative. These veterans are going to know we’re thinking about them.”