Gifts of Light Year in Review

Delivering Care Virtually

Early in the pandemic, CAMH restricted visitors to protect patients. We wanted to find a way to show patients that, while they were apart from their families and communities, they didn’t have to be alone. 

This is when Quinn Kirby, Manager of Gifts of Light, advocated to provide tablets to patients, which became a reality thanks to a $300,000 donation from Donna and Gary Slaight.

“Overnight we became reliant on technology for nearly every aspect of our jobs, so we knew right away that it was just as important to provide to our patients easier access to the online world as well.  The pandemic was going to change the way we all interacted with one another.”

The Slaight family donation provided 500 tablets—one per inpatient bed—at both Queen Street and College/Ursula Franklin Street sites, as well as 54 tablets for staff to facilitate virtual care sessions. 

“Because of this generous donation, we have patients and staff from across the hospital tuning in daily to participate in live programming with our creative facilitators, and meeting new patients who share in similar interests and activities,” adds Quinn.

“We are proud to say that we have 27 programs running virtually every week and are working hard to grow this number.”

Celebrating Our Volunteers

Every year, Gifts of Light volunteers help the program reach more and more patients.

As the COVID-19 pandemic required physical distancing measures, our volunteers, like everyone else, had to stay home. Although they no longer come onsite each Tuesday to volunteer their time, we meet every two weeks virtually to discuss all things Gifts of Light! 

Our volunteers are the pulse behind our program. We rely on them to help source new donations of clothes and self-care products, help support special events and programs, and connect us to corporate donations that ensure we can continue to positively impact patients’ experiences across CAMH.  We miss having them around, and are eagerly awaiting the day they can return onsite and energize us with their dedication and ideas! 

“This program would not exist without the passion and commitment of these incredible volunteers. Gifts of Light’s roots will always be credited to Donna Slaight and this team, but it is because of them that we get to do the meaningful work that we do,” says Quinn Kirby, Manager of Gifts of Light. “We did not find these volunteers—they found us. We are incredibly grateful for that.”