Allegra Jenkins got a surprise staycation.
Jenkins is a single mom in Parksville with three kids aged five to nine years old.
She’s also a student, studying to become an administrative assistant taking courses online through Vancouver Island University, despite battling both dyslexia and ADHD.
She makes time to study in the small gaps of time between driving her kids to school, making them dinner and helping with their homework.
“It’s a constant fight and struggle,” she admits. “I have no life, but it’s worth it.”
Jenkins will graduate next summer, and she’s hoping it will bring new career opportunities and a better life for herself, and her family now living in low-income housing.
But despite everyday hardships, Jenkins manages to appreciate what she does have.
“I’ve got three of the most grateful kids in the world,” she told The NEWS. “They’re excited for a second hand T-shirt from the SOS — they’re just wonderful kids.”
And last week, Jenkins was recognized for her incredible optimism in the face of life’s obstacles.
She was the first recipient of Tigh-Na-Mara’s Vacay It Forward campaign, which simply put, gives a full-fledged vacation to those who deserve it most.
“I was shocked,” Jenkins said about finding out she had been gifted a three-day-two-night stay at the world renowned resort nestled along Parksville’s expansive waterfront, including special spa treatments and tapas; breakfast, lunch and dinner at Cedars; and access to the resort’s recreation program.
“The kids were over the moon, they’ve never stayed in a hotel before,” said Jenkins. “I broke down to tears three times… I would have never been able to afford to do this with them.”
The philosophy behind Vacay It Forward is that the people who deserve a vacation the most are often the very last people who have the opportunity to take one. Tigh-Na-Mara partnered with the SOS and Variety — The Children’s Charity — to select deserving families for the initiative.
“Allegra was chosen by SOS for this vacation because she’s a single parent with three children, she’s upgrading her skills at school and she’s working very hard to support her children and make a better life for herself,” said SOS marketing coordinator Lissa Alexander.
“At SOS she’s known as someone with a lot of integrity and she’s very appreciative. We’re so thrilled she was able to enjoy this wonderful vacation at Tigh-Na-Mara. As someone who is usually so busy taking care of everyone else, she certainly deserves a break and some pampering of her own once in awhile.”
Vacay It Forward was launched earlier this year and so far it’s been a success.
“Truly the goal is for it to go global,” said Luba Plotnikoff, Tigh-Na-Mara marketing and media relations manager. “There’s no reason a hotel, in say, Florida wouldn’t be able to Vacay It Forward to a family who is so deserving of a vacation. I only see this as a win-win for charities, families and resorts and hotels — there’s no downside.”
Tigh-Na-Mara has been challenging other resorts and hotels to Vacay It Forward, following their lead in partnering with charities of their choice to give meaningful experiences to people in-need.
So far, Plotnikoff said Pacific Sands Beach Resort in Tofino and Painted Boat Resort and Spa on the Sunshine Coast have accepted the challenge. She said they will challenge five more resorts.
“It started out as just wanting to do more in the way of giving back to the community in terms of charities and individuals who have gone above and beyond the call of duty,” explained Plotnikoff.
“I thought, there’s got to be a way to be more socially responsible as an industry and to create an initiative to propel other industry partners to do the same.”
And so, Vacay It Forward was born.
Last weekend, Ani Khoudian was also gifted an all inclusive vacation at Tigh-Na-Mara. Khoudian was recently named the 2015 Variety Parent Champion and received the 46th Variety Annual Heart Award.
She’s a tireless volunteer and she said it all started with her son, Anthony, who has cerebral palsy, verbal and visual impairments and epilepsy.
“If it wasn’t for Anthony I wouldn’t have got into the Variety circle, I wouldn’t have got to know all these people and made connections and done fundraising,” she said. “I was very ignorant about special needs kids until I had one.”
She said Vacay It Forward has been an emotion experience.
“This is just an amazing program,” she said. “I hope that they understand they aren’t just giving a family a break, they’re giving them the holiday of a lifetime… This might not come for many more years, it’s just overwhelming.”
In February 2014, Tigh-Na-Mara was presented with the Humanitarian Award of Excellence from the Hotel Association of Canada.
This special award is given in recognition for their generous support of many charitable campaigns and initiatives both financially and through hundreds of volunteer hours.
