That year, 1,500 lights and an old brown station wagon with a tree on top were joined with an old RV, and 100,000 people showed up. The family started this holiday tradition in 2020, the first year of the pandemic, after Turcotte’s daughter came up with the idea. The Turcotte family have transformed their front yard into a lovely Griswolds festive scene from the movie National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, all while raising funds and collecting non-perishable food items for their local food bank. Shawn Turcotte and his family are trying to ensure the people who use the Stittsville Food Bank will have the hap-hap-happiest Christmas. Social Scene | Community Builders: The Turcotte Family Christmas Vacation Please send details to and we will be in touch. If you know of someone doing something exceptional to help, we would love to share their story. For more information and how you can get involved next year, head to Smiles for Seniors on Facebook. You realize how fortunate you are, and how you can help other people.” As the volunteers band together each year, their co-ordinated efforts echo the true spirit of Christmas - giving, gratitude and the joy of making someone else smile. You feel good knowing you are making other people happy, but it makes you grateful and sad. “I have been serving this home for 12 years. “Year after year we bring presents to the same people,” Luk said. Luk started with one gift for one senior and now says, “In total we have 150 gifts collected from friends, colleagues, anybody who will do it.” Last Friday Luk was joined by her sister and a dear friend who filled their vehicles with 78 gifts to be delivered to Presland Residence, a private post-psychiatric residential care facility. She learned about the program through an email she received while working at the Department of National Defence. For the last 12 years Vivian Luk has been a dedicated volunteer with the program. Darren Steele, whose rallying cry was “Many hands make light work,” initiated the effort in 2000. With the realization that Christmas can be the loneliest time for seniors with no one in their lives, this volunteer initiative is dedicated to bringing warmth and joy to those who often feel forgotten. In the heart of the holiday season, a group of dedicated individuals came together for a cause that transcends the festive cheer - Smiles for Seniors. Social Scene | Community Builders: Smiles for Seniors

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