Trim the Toy Room is back, benefits Kamloops Sexual Assault Counselling Centre
Dec 17, 2021 | 1:47 PM
Adam Donnelly
KAMLOOPS — The Kamloops Sexual Assault Counselling Centre (KSACC) provides support and trauma counselling to survivors of sexual assault.
Tragically, sometimes those survivors are children, and in that case, play therapy is a powerful tool used in the healing process. That’s why KSACC has partnered with Tumbleweed Toys again this year, to help Trim the Toyroom at the Counselling Centre offices.
“Sometimes it’s hard for people to know how to get involved in supporting children who’ve experienced childhood sexual abuse,” KSACC Agency Coordinator Alix Dolson suggests. “It’s a scary subject and an awful thing to think about, but this is a way the community can support those children who have had those experiences.”
Trim the Toy Room is a partnership between KSACC and Tumbleweed Toys. The items and funds raised through the collaboration help fill the shelves in the centre’s therapeutic playroom.
“For young people who have experienced trauma, play therapy is a way for them to process those experiences they’ve had, to work through some of those big feelings in a way that’s safe and child-centred,” Dolson explains.
For Tumbleweed Toys owner Vanessa Gammel, partnering with the Sexual Assault Centre was an easy choice.
“We feel that the resources should be available for kids who have been victims of sexual abuse,” Gammel says. “The play therapy, the toy room is a really important part of that.”
If you come into Tumbleweed Toys and you’re not sure what to buy, you can always consult the list that KSACC has provided to staff at the front counter.
“We’ll guide [shoppers] around the store and we can help find something that they’d like to choose off the list that fits their budget,” Gammel explains. “Also, there’s an option to buy gift cards that go directly to KSACC, so they can come in next year and buy things, as well.”
Trim the Toy Room runs until the end of the year, so there’s plenty of time to stop into Tumbleweed Toys and make your donation.
