THUNDER BAY – They may not know it, but thousands of local children will have the Toys for Tots campaign to thank when they wake up to a present under the tree this Christmas. Run by the Thunder Bay Professional Firefighters Association, it’s a charitable tradition dating back more than 70 years.
Firefighter and acting Captain Paul Penna, who chairs the campaign, says it started in the early 1950s with firefighters fixing wooden toys, and has since evolved into a large fundraiser in partnership with the Christmas Cheer campaign.
Firefighters were stationed at the Intercity Shopping Centre beginning in mid-December, collecting donations from shoppers. They also got a boost with a cheque for more than $36,000 from Tim Hortons’ Smile Cookie campaign.
Penna was at the mall Monday afternoon with a group of his colleagues to announce this year’s fundraising total of $134,068. The money is used beginning in March to purchase toys for the following Christmas.
Even with a lower-than-usual total of around $127,000 from last year’s campaign, Christmas Cheer chairperson Jolene Kemp says they were able to purchase enough toys to meet demand this year.
“These children are getting top-of-the-line toys that are new, and that makes it doubly exciting,” she added.
Penna says his goal was to beat last year’s total, and he’s pleased they did so by around $7,000. The campaign was originally slated to close last week, but organizers opted to keep it open for the busy final shopping weekend before Christmas. It’s a decision that paid off.
He says even those who may not have much themselves chipped in to help – including children contributing their birthday money to the campaign.
“Christmas is such a magical and important time of year for families, particularly for children,” he says. “The idea of going through Christmas as a child without a considerable gift under the tree is pretty devastating. So it really makes us feel good when we know we’ve taken care of more than 4,000 children that really need that help.”
