‘Jammies for Grammies’ gives out nearly 500 pairs of pajamas to N.S. seniors for Christmas

In the face of heartbreak, one mother in Nova Scotia is spending her holiday season spreading joy.

An RCMP escort led the way Monday morning as Alyssa’s Angels arrived with Jammies for Grammies at a seniors’ home in Enfield.

Lower Sackville’s Patricia MacNeil started the fundraiser after her 22-year-old daughter Alyssa passed away almost three years ago.

Alyssa, who loved bowling and the Montreal Canadiens, was four years old when she was first diagnosed with cancer before beating the disease multiple times. She went on to have her wish of meeting Cinderella granted on CTV’s Breakfast Television.

But, in 2019, her cancer returned and Alyssa was told it was untreatable. Alyssa died on Jan. 18, 2020.

While MacNeil found herself grieving her first Christmas without her daughter, she decided to channel Alyssa’s kind spirit to help others during the holiday season.

That’s where the idea of Jammies for Grammies began.

“Alyssa loved to give pajamas as her Christmas gift, so if you were on her list you knew you were getting pajamas,” MacNeil told CTV Atlantic on Monday.

MacNeil and Alyssa’s Angels gift-wrapped 462 pairs of pajamas this holiday season.

They dropped off more than 70 to the Magnolia Continuing Care Community, and have six more facilities on their list.

“A lot of residents don’t have family members or a gift to open on Christmas morning, so it’s really important for them to have this,” says Helen Hines with Magnolia Continuing Care Community.