Corey O’Soup speaking at a call for volunteer event for the Christmas Princess Campaign in Martensville. Photo courtesy Saskatchewan Advocate for Children and Youth Facebook Page.
As the holiday season approaches, Saskatchewan’s children’s advocate will be playing the role of Santa Claus for a local youth initiative.
Corey O’Soup is throwing his support behind the United Youth Christmas Campaign, which is organized by 15-year-old Maize Bokowy from Martensville.
“For me, this was a really easy initiative to get behind,” says O’Soup. “It is so heartwarming to see the youth of Saskatchewan take ownership of a project that is not only this large, but it’s also so important for many families living in Saskatoon.”
The campaign will be collecting items and money for underprivileged children and youth throughout the holiday season. They will then throw what they say will be an “epic party” to distribute everything collected.
O’Soup says he was initially asked to be Santa Claus for some of the events, but says he saw a bigger purpose in the campaign. He says too often the Children’s Advocate responds to negative stories in the province. For O’Soup, the United Youth Christmas Campaign is a way to spread a positive message.
“I really feel like giving our youth that voice is really important,” he says. “This is a 15-year-old girl that’s trying to get her peers to come and volunteer and collect donations and plan an entire event for the underprivileged, so how could I not get involved?”
More collection events are planned over the upcoming months and O’Soup says the distribution party will happen sometime closer to Christmas Day.
The United Youth Christmas Campaign has already secured local and national support. Anyone interested in participating or following the progress of the group can find more information at: www.facebook.com/princessmaizie.