From socks to sweets, nine-year-old Vitali Monets has made his list, but there's no need to check it twice. He knows exactly what he wants in his stocking.
Vitali is filling 111 stockings so all the residents at a Dartmouth seniors' complex will have something to open Christmas morning.
“Santa doesn’t go to grown ups, so I thought I should get a gift for someone,” the fourth grader says. “But not just one person. Everyone.”
So that's what he did. And now, Vitali has gift giving down to an art. He also has lots of people helping make his stocking project come together.
“I get stuff from other people, like socks, toothbrushes and toothpaste and soap and Kleenex,” he says.
This is Vitali’s second year playing Santa. Both years he’s made a video asking for donations and put it on Facebook. People have come out in droves to lend a hand.
But unlike Saint Nick, Vitali doesn’t just work once a year. The seniors’ facility has practically become a second home to Vitali. He and his mom visit the residents at Oakwood Terrace once a week.
“I love being with the youngsters,” says nursing home resident Pat MacDonald. “He’s just so interested in what he's doing. I’m just really pleased.”
Vitali says he’s able to find common ground with people much older than him.
“You should think about them and think what can you do for them because not a lot of them have family so it would be nice to get a gift,” says Vitali.
Proving further that the joy of Christmas doesn't have an age limit.
With files from CTV Atlantic’s Kelly Linehan.
