Honouring memories

Summerside kids make, sell ornaments to raise money for Prince County Hospital Foundation campaign

Three Summerside, P.E.I. children who will never know their grandfather and one of their siblings have not let that stop them from honouring their memories.

For the last eight years, Nolan, 14, Jonah, 11 and seven-year-old Ellis Ferrish have raised money for the

PCH Foundation Lights for

Life campaign by making and selling homemade Christmas ornaments.

“I don't remember much because I was only six, but I just remember when we started, we just started doing it … as a craft,” said Nolan. “But then we went to the (Prince County) hospital and started selling them.

"Then we did it the next year and it just became a tradition.”

Lights for Life is the charitable foundation's annual fundraiser for Prince County Hospital (PCH), located in Summerside.

The public is invited to donate to the hospital in exchange

for a light in the hospital's Christmas display in memory of a loved one.

Money raised during the campaign goes toward new medical equipment.

With the funds the children raise selling ornaments, they buy one light in memory of their maternal grandfather, John Howard, and stillborn sibling, Tobin.

“It definitely feels good,” said

Jonah. “We never got to meet them.”

“If he was still here, he'd be doing a lot for us,” added Nolan, of his grandfather.

Money left over gets put toward an angel light display in memory of one of the children's mother's colleagues who was killed in a car accident.

The whole family loves working together on craft projects, said Lori Ferrish.

This particular project, added the kids' mom, originated as a way to teach her children that Christmas is a time for giving – not just receiving.

“Around the holidays, you're always trying to figure out as a parent, like, it's exciting getting presents,” she said. “But how do I do something (to show) that they can give back, and that giving is important, too?”

That first year, before Ellis was born, Nolan and Jonah made ornaments from salt dough and their father, Trent, took them to PCH to sell in person.

“You guys would make a little sign,” Ferrish said to her children. “You'd have your ornaments and we'd just walk around until we sold them all.”

Nolan laughed, recalling a memory from one of the first years of the tradition.

“Jonah, I remember, one year, he thought the money was his,” he said. “We'd go around and he was like, four or five, and he'd hold the money like he was ready to put it in his pocket.”

In the last few years, due to the pandemic, Ferrish has used social media to sell ornaments.

There is no set price, it is whatever the recipient wishes to pay. By the end, after selling around 50 or 60 ornaments, the children usually have raised a few hundred dollars to donate to Lights for Life.

“It doesn't really matter. The whole point is donating it right back,” said Ferrish. “But we've had really, really generous amounts.”

Each year, the children make a different type of decoration. A few years ago, they made one from cinnamon – Nolan's personal favourite, as it still smells like cinnamon. In 2022, it was a beaded ornament.

No matter what the Ferrish kids are making, their mother always picks a craft that allows everyone to participate. They always save a few each year to put on their own Christmas tree.

“We make Dad do some,” said Ferrish. “Everybody has to make some.”

Nolan added: “if looks the best, it's probably Mom's and Dad's.”

After eight years of making ornaments, all three children are determined to keep up their annual giving for years to come.

“It's a Christmas tradition,” said Nolan. “So I kinda gotta.”