Betty Begg-Brooks knew she was onto something on a cold, stormy February day when 101 families showed up for help.
She’d been working at the Salvation Army and family services. When the charity decided to limit their donations to food, Begg-Brooks decided to handle clothing and other donations out of her car.
She hosted an open house, or “care fair,” in her home and that’s when all the families started showing up.
Today, Begg-Brooks runs Gifts from the Heart, a one-stop free store for struggling Islanders. The store is preparing its Christmas Love donation boxes for the holidays.
About
- WHO: Betty Begg-Brooks is a charity worker.
- WHAT: Begg-Brooks runs Gift’s From The Heart, a one-stop free store for struggling Islanders.
- WHEN: Gifts opened in 2013, though Begg-Brooks has been active in her community since 1967.
- WHERE: Gifts is located at 58 Spring Lane in Charlottetown.
- WHY: “These people are rejected every day and they're not going to be rejected at Gifts From The Heart,” Begg-Brooks said.
- GOOD DEEDS: Begg-Brooks kept Gifts From The Heart open all through the pandemic, helping people who had lost employment and were struggling to make ends meet.
The charity remained open all through the pandemic, never reducing hours or limiting its services, she said.
“When COVID-19 hit, we had a 150 per cent increase for our clientele.”
Unlike a food bank, where clients can only get food and necessities once a month, Gifts from the Heart offers things like furniture on a bi-weekly basis and necessities as needed.
“Nobody is turned away,” she said. “These people are rejected every day and they're not going to be rejected at Gifts from the Heart.”
The organization is entirely run by volunteers, with 78 people working regularly. Together, they help 852 families, a total of 3,000 people.
“Everything comes from the heart,” Begg-Brooks said. “It comes from the tip to the tip of the Island.”
Help comes from all over the province in part because of Gifts’ reputation and consistency, she said.
“It comes from just the ordinary folks. A lot of people have touched us and believe in what me and my volunteers do.”
With so much of the Island experiencing problems like food insecurity, the work is all done without expecting anything in return, she said.
“We’re expecting people to help because everybody should help with poverty.”
Begg-Brooks has been at this a long time, visiting orphanages and prisons since the 1960s.
“I started in 1967 and I would search for people who were down and out and try to meet their needs.”
She worked in orphanages in Germany, and the prison in Kingston, Ont.
“I’ve always been drawn to places like this,” she said. “It’s somebody’s son, somebody’s daughter.”
As a single mother of four children, Begg-Brooks had personal experience with needing help, she said
“The first time that somebody suggested I should go to a food bank, well, to me that was really hard, and the way it made me feel was terrible.”
When Begg-Brooks started Gifts from the Heart, she ran it out of her car after time spent working with the Salvation Army, and hosting a “care fair.”
When the 101 families showed up, she knew she had to find a larger location. She talked to some people, including staff at the Farm Centre.
“Betty, we’ll give you the Farm Centre, if you want to do it bigger,” they told her. An offer she couldn't refuse.
Gifts from the Heart has been going ever since.
Today, it operates at 58 Spring Lane in Charlottetown. The provincial government covers the rent, but Gifts pays overhead costs through donations, Begg-Brooks said.
With her client list always growing, Begg-Brooks hopes to double her storage capacity with a 10,000-square-foot location and to purchase a new van, she said.
“I’ve got to keep the faith and realize that it will happen, because you can’t help this many people and it not happen.”
