Recovery Kidz is a grassroots organization that seeks to make life a little happier for children whose parents are seeking a new way of life in recovery. Our organization is designed to take away the stress of a newly clean and sober parent wondering how they are going to buy a gift for their child. Each year we ask individuals, businesses, community groups and schools to partner with us to help support these families in need.

Every year, we invite local businesses, schools, organizations and community groups to become partners to help us collect toys and gift cards. Please join us and help bring a smile to a child’s face this holiday season!

Recovery Kidz started in 2013 by Alexis, she started by calling Last Door Recovery Society and asked about donating some toys to some dads. Alexis said that she found that many great places that help families during the holidays but parents who are in inpatient addiction treatment and don’t have their children in immediate care do not qualify for those subsidies. In 2013 Alexis dropped off about 10 toys to parents who were in addiction treatment and the following year it got bigger and they added another addiction treatment centre and then Linda came on to help make the movement even bigger. They continued to introduce more addiction programs into the cause. Last year Recovery Kidz helped 70 kids through five addiction programs.

Linda Shares her personal story of being a mother who struggled with addiction and how her last Christmas before she got clean getting her children gifts was her last priority because drugs and alcohol were at the forefront of her desires and wants. Linda said her first Christmas clean she was able to be present in her kids lives and was able even with little money to buy her kids gifts with she was able to make her kids gifts and be there for them even though that was not enough to get rid of the shame and guilt she had for the pasts Christmas’ not being there.

Another piece of the idea of Recovery Kidz that was talked about was the idea of accepting help while in addiction treatment, being a dad and wanting to buy your kids a gift when they are not able too and some dads not accepting donated gifts to give to their kids because they feel as they need to be the ones buying the gifts for their kids not accepting donated gifts for their kids.

Alexis mentioned that she chose to start with a men’s addiction treatment program because being a single mom she noticed that charities tend to lean more towards helping single mothers rather than single fathers. Alexis wanted to start something that helps all kinds of parents living in addiction treatment centers who do not have the means to get their kids gifts for Christmas.