Michael Joel-Hansen
Saskatoon StarPhoenix
A Saskatoon man is searching near and far in hopes of reuniting a child with a lost item as the holidays near.
This past weekend, Albert Chubak made a visit to the Home Depot on Circle Drive East in the city’s north end.
Having just finished a job out of town, removing bees from someone’s chimney, he had some money in his pocket and decided it was a good time to drop in.
While making his way across the parking lot, a square brown object caught his eye.
“It almost looked like just a chunk of mud,” said Chubak.
Chubak looked further, and saw the item was cloth. He picked it up and put it in his shopping cart before continuing on his way.
Eventually he noticed a zipper and realized it was a children’s purse with some coins inside. Chubak guessed its owner brought it along to maybe buy a little something for themselves while visiting the store with a parent.
Chubak said it would bother him if one of his kids had come along with him to the store and lost something like this.
“It would just rip my heart out,” he said.
Chubak took to Facebook. He felt he would be more likely to find the bag’s owner through social media, given that stores tend to throw items away that are not claimed after a set number of days.
Meanwhile, Chubak has been doing some online sleuthing. His research led him to believe the purse was part of a set which included a bracelet, a little book and a pen. He’s found the bags are usually gifted to kids who are between the ages of four and 12. His post in the group ‘Saskatoon Lost and Found,’ had over 600 shares as of Monday afternoon, with around 1,400 responses. Chubak said he has been trying to read and react to all the comments, which have been overwhelmingly positive.
He added the post has been shared in other Facebook groups, including those focused on communities outside the city.
In his post Chubak said if someone contacts him and is able to describe the bag he will bring it to them. He said he has added some additional money to the bag, and has had other people offer to make contributions.
Chubak thinks any money collected could help the child’s family have a nice meal to mark the holidays.
“That’s a good seasonal Christmas-type thing to do,” he said.
So far, Chubak hasn’t had any firm leads on who owns the bag. While he is still hopeful about finding the owner, Chubak said he has also considered the possibility of finding somebody who could use the extra money if the owner doesn’t turn up.
Chubak, who lost his father at age 13, said he knows what it’s like to wake up on Christmas Day without a gift under the tree. That’s why he wants to prevent other kids from having similar experiences.
“I understand as a kid what it’s like to lose and to miss and for the season to be negative,” he said.
