Granddaughter gifts more than 100 Thanksgiving hampers in her grandma's memory

Brianna Kelly always knew her grandmother Olive was a believer in giving back.

"She was an incredible, incredible woman. You know she was the last one to sit down and the first one to get up at any meal," Kelly said. 

But after Olive died in September 2017, Kelly discovered her generosity went further than she knew — she had been silently donating to a women's shelter in Prince George, British Columbia, where she lived, for more than 30 years. 

A month later, Kelly decided to carry on her grandmother's legacy.

That October, Kelly packaged four Thanksgiving hampers — filled with donated food to go to Calgary families in need. The boxes — which Kelly calls Olive Boxes — contain everything for a Thanksgiving feast, from ham, to vegetables, potatoes, dinner buns, gravy and pie. 

That number has grown every year, and this year Kelly spent Thanksgiving weekend preparing 120 meals for families across the city, funded entirely through donations.

"Strangers donating that I've never had a conversation with, like 'here is $200 dollars for boxes, here's 10 boxes' like it's incredible and I get really emotional about it," she said.

Taylor Robinson, a friend of Kelly's, volunteered to help out.

"I'm so proud of her. It's truly amazing to see what she's done and how she can help these families," Robinson said. "She's always giving."

Kelly said she wishes her grandmother was alive to see the community come together in her name.

"She would be like 'oh, it's too fussy' … she wouldn't want the attention."