Salvation Army happy to help create gingerbread teepee kits for Indigenous rec therapy program in Lethbridge

This past Christmas, The Salvation Army in Lethbridge was asked to create 12 teepee gingerbread kits, to give to participants of the Spirit of Art and Reconciliation (SOAR) rec therapy program at Chinook Regional Hospital. SOAR was developed by the Indigenous Health Program and Therapeutic Recreation and is offered weekly for Indigenous inpatients.

People involved in the program were discussing if they knew of a group that could make some teepee gingerbread kits for the patients to put together, and immediately thought of The Salvation Army. Major Donna Bladen, the Corps officer at The Salvation Army in Lethbridge, was contacted and loved the idea.

“I called a few people I know who might be interested and we got together to create these kits from scratch,” says Major Bladen. “It was fun to create something we’d never tried before, and to have them be so well received was great.”

The gingerbread teepees were a very popular with the participants, and the organizers were very happy as well. Major Bladen said their staff and volunteers will make them again next year and are happy to have a small part in the program because, “lots of times it’s the small acts that build the work towards reconciliation.”

Photo caption: L to R, : Heidi Davis, Recreational Therapist for AHS, Roxie Vaile, Indigenous Hospital Liaison, and Major Donna Bladen from The Salvation Army.