SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Christmas has come early for seniors in Yellowknife this week, thanks to an unexpected $100,000 donation to Avens - A Community for Seniors.

"I was very surprised. It's one of the most generous donations that Avens has ever received and we're so thankful for it," said CEO Stephen Jackson. "It's going to really help us focus on providing a higher quality of life for our residents."

The donor, who only recently came to Yellowknife when his company began working in the NWT, asked to remain anonymous but was willing to speak with members of the media and share some of the reasons he chose to make this donation.

"Even though we've only been in the NWT for a few months ... every single person we've dealt with from the territory (has been) just fantastically nice to us and it made us feel like we're part of the family," he said through a translator. "So in that sense when we (are) making donations to Avens, helping out local seniors, we think we're helping our own family members or our own parents rather than just someone else's parents."

Despite using the term 'we', he made clear the donation was from himself as an individual.

The donor asked the money not be spent on the organization's ongoing efforts to increase housing, rather that it be spent "on existing seniors and helping them out in whatever way that

Avens thinks is best."

While Avens has an ongoing "wish list" of items it would like to purchase or projects it would like to enact, Jackson said this donation called for something extra special.

"Due to the size of this donation we had to put our heads together and come up with larger items that we didn't have the capacity before to even dream about,"

said Jackson.

In consultation with staff, board members and management, Avens determined three large projects to be funded through this donation which include: a sound system for the centre's recreation hall, a room dedicated to podiatry (foot care) for seniors, and the creation of a special "sensory stimulation room" for residents with Alzheimer's disease.

Kate Drexler, volunteer and recreation supervisor at Avens, said this third project is based on the "snoezelen concept" - a European therapy model for people with dementia, Autism or brain injury.

"With the donation we're able to make a snoezelen room, so what that does is it's sensory stimulation for people with dementia," she said.

The room will utilize a variety of optional sense stimuli including aroma therapy, audio stimulation, and visual stimulation through lights or fiber optics.

Drexler said a snoezelen room can provide a relaxing, calming environment.

"It's associated with stress reduction and reduced agitation which also benefits staff as well," she said. "We have enough (money) to play around and really make an experience for residents."

"It helps with the quality of life," said Kathryn Youngblut, an Avens resident and member of the board of directors. "They've got a big job here to look after all of us. And we all have different needs, so it's nice that some groups step in and help us develop things for us in the building."

The man whose donation will make these projects possible did not want a big deal to be made about him, although he did say his decision to support Avens over other local organizations or charities is tied to his own cultural identity.

"Coming from an ethnic Chinese background we definitely believe seniors are to be treasured," he said.

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