Powell River is being taken over by ninjas, but not in the way residents may think. The area is the latest to take part in ninja’ing, a new craze where people secretly leave gifts for unsuspecting members of the community.
The Powell River “Wine Ninjas” Facebook group was created by Marissa Pirart around Mother’s Day of this year. She was introduced to the idea by her mother, who had joined a similar group in Alberta.
Pirart said it started as a group where “you pick a person and gift them their favourite things.”
That started with gifting wine, but because not everyone likes wine, it has now morphed into any form of gifts.
Janet Janze started helping Pirart as a co-admin of the group shortly after it was formed. They work together to make sure the page is easy to use as it grows in popularity, with people joining every day.
“Ninja” Brittany Stainton was added to the group by a friend and thought it would be something fun to do and, since there are not many events taking place in town lately, be a great community-building event.
Stainton said it’s a feel-good way of giving. She also found ways to keep the cost of ninja’ing low. She tends to give away homemade cider and plants she had grown herself.
“I don’t tend to spend a lot of money on things,” said Stainton. “You can just go around your house and find items you have never used before.”
Pirart said the group has had a huge impact and is bringing the community closer together.
“My main goal is to pay it forward; I was feeling how everybody else was feeling [about COVD-19 and social distancing] and it was hard,” she added. “This is a really nice way to brighten up somebody’s day who maybe wasn’t having a good one.”
Anyone can join the group, according to Janze.
“Just join our page and get your ‘ninja’ on,” said Janze. “Be creative, wear a costume, pick a stranger or someone you know. It’s all just to make people’s days a bit brighter and fill everyone’s news feeds with something happy during a not so happy time.”
