Saskatoon video producers 'pay it forward' with free toques and mitts over the holidays

Some Saskatonians are feeling a bit warmer this holiday season thanks to some generosity from two local video producers.

Dylan Giesbrecht and Nawid Shirzai were chosen by RBC to participate in their Canada 150 campaign. They were given $150 to make a positive impact in the community, and so they had an idea.

“We get winters here that are -30 C to -40 C,” Shirzai said in a video posted on Facebook. “We decided to help people who were less fortunate or weren’t dressed properly.”

He and Giesbrecht went to the dollar store and bought 70 toques and 30 pairs of mittens, and took to the streets of downtown Saskatoon. They handed the winter wear out to those who looked like they needed to warm up.

Being video producers, they filmed the whole outing.

“To see people’s smiles on their faces, that was just a good feeling for us,” Giesbrecht told 650 CKOM. “The best part of Christmas is giving back instead of always getting.”

Once they ran out of people on the street in need, Giesbrecht and Shirzai headed over the Lighthouse to hand over the rest of the winter wear.