Paris Joseyounen arrives at Our House on Monday with a special delivery. (Facebook)

By Nigel Maxwell

Holiday spirit

Sturgeon Lake high school student helps warm Prince Albert’s homeless

Dec 20, 2023 | 4:00 PM

A Grade 12 student at Sturgeon Lake Central School is embodying the Christmas spirit.

Paris Joseyounen was among a number of students brought into Prince Albert on Monday to get props for their Christmas concert and asked her teacher if she could make a quick stop at the Dollarama store.

While there she filled up her cart with socks, hygiene products, scarves, toques and gloves and informed her teacher she planned to give it to the homeless.

“I just couldn’t handle seeing homeless people on the street, not eating and not sleeping and I usually cry at home and I finally had the money to actually feed them,” she explained to paNOW.

The total came out to over $200 and came straight out of Joseyounen’s personal bank account. After distributing some items to people on the street, the rest was dropped off at Our House.

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When asked if she had any concerns with spending that amount of money, Joseyounen said no, adding she would do it again and just wishes she had more to give.

“Because I have everything I need at home, like I have a bed to sleep on, I have a roof over my head, there’s food in the fridge and that’s all thar matters to me really,” she said.

Stacey Bighead and Tanya McCallum were the two teachers with the students, and Bighead noted Paris had explained even on the way into the city she had offered someone money days earlier to bring her to Prince Albert to get the items but they backed out.

“Coming from a teenage girl, not a lot of high school kids would do that,” Bighead said.

McCallum, who accompanied Joseyounen to the store, said the teenage girl is actually from Wollaston Lake but has become a big part of their community and is set to graduate next year. McCallum also noted how proud she was to see Joseyounen use the money she saved.

“She felt the homeless needed it more than she did,” she explained.

Donna Brooks, CEO of the Prince Albert YWCA, told paNOW she was moved by the gesture.

‘Because a Grade 12 student, they probably don’t have significant income themselves so to go out of their way like that to raise money and to take what they’ve raised and give it back to the homeless, it just warms all of our hearts,” she said.

Brooks also acknowledged the gesture provides hope for people on the street, adding they are so often judged or just told to move on.

“So when they are treated kindly, especially from such a young person like that, it does gives them hope and makes them feel good and feel they’re worthy,” she said.

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nigel.maxwell@pattisonmedia.com

On X: @nigelmaxwell