Local realtor Stuart Smith promised to gift wrap the client's home that closed closest to Christmas
Dec 20, 2009 - 09:39 AM
By Stefanie Swinson
OSHAWA -- It was closing day for John Cannito on his newly purchased backsplit bungalow on Donegal Avenue in Oshawa.
He showed up in the early afternoon of Dec. 19 to get the key from his realtor Stuart Smith of Re/Max Jazz Reality to see his 1,700 square foot home being gift wrapped.
"This is pretty surprising. I guess Santa came early, right?" Mr. Cannito, 30, said with a laugh.
He knew Mr. Smith had something up his sleeve. He had asked for Mr. Cannito's permission to gift wrap his home when he first signed the purchase papers but the new home owner didn't expect it to be on such a grand scale.
"It's probably the biggest present I've got. They say good things come in small packages but I guess this one's a little bit bigger," Mr. Cannito said.
Mr. Smith had made a promise before the holiday season began that he would gift wrap the client's home that closed closest to Christmas Day. He did this as an idea to raise money for a charity he said could use a little help.
"We're trying to raise money and donations of formula, diapers, clothing and toys for the Pregnancy Help Centre on Drew Street," Mr. Smith said while stuffing a large box full of donations that had just been dropped off.
"You can donate before Christmas or after Christmas...every bit helps. People are having babies all year long and some people need help with those babies. It all goes to young moms or young parents who could really use the help, especially around Christmas."
Mr. Smith and his team of friends, family and co-workers (including his wife who is 7 months pregnant) began wrapping the house just before the noon hour. He thought his big idea would be a simple task.
"It's more work than I thought it would be," he said.
"The real issue is the end of roll wrapping paper that we received, which was on its way to the waste stream, really was end of roll. We only had about 25 or 30 feet gold paper. That sort of blew our design feature. Once the design was shot we just tried to get it finished."
The idea was to gift wrap the entire home but after time and wrapping paper began to run out Mr. Smith focused on completing the front of the home, and finish he did. The final finishing touch, about a half hour past his original deadline, was ribbon and a large bow on the front door.
Taking a step back to look at his masterpiece Mr. Smith laughed out loud. "It's ugly!" he said. "We tried though and it was for a good cause."
Mr. Cannito appreciated Mr. Smith's hard work and said he was trying to decide whether he'd leave the paper on over the holidays.
"I know the easier part is definitely going to be unwrapping it which I'm looking forward to, I'm just not sure when that will be," he said.
To make a donation to the Pregnancy Help Centre of Durham call 905-720-3252 or go to the centre at 29 Drew St. in Oshawa.
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