THUNDER BAY - For many children growing up, there is nothing like the anticipation of waking up Christmas morning and seeing a pile of gifts under the tree and for the past 70 years, Thunder Bay firefighters have been making sure that sight is something every child wakes up to Christmas day.
“We all know how important Christmas was to us as children,” said Paul Penna, chair of the Thunder Bay Professional Firefighters Association Toys for Tots campaign. “It’s still important to me as an adult, but as a child, just the anticipation of Christmas morning. It’s heartbreaking to think there are children in the community who would otherwise go without a gift at Christmas time.”
The annual Toys for Tots campaign officially kicked off Friday morning at the Intercity Shopping Centre. For the next several weeks, members with Thunder Bay Fire Rescue will be stationed at the mall to collect donations for the annual campaign.
“We do also accept new, unused toys if that’s what people have,” Penna said. “Our main goal is to collect monetary donations because we do buy age and gender specific gifts for children.”
Last year Toys for Tots raised more than $127,000 and while it was less than previous years, Penna said they are hoping to reach that goal again.
“We are careful about setting a goal,” he said. “We will try to be where were at last year and maybe better. We took a step back last year, had a tougher year, so we are hoping to better last year.”
The campaign already got a significant head start on reaching that goal, receiving a cheque for $36,635 from the Smile Cookie campaign at Tim Horton’s that wrapped up in September.
“That’s a really great start,” Penna said. “We were so happy at the beginning of the week when we got the news. We’re just really happy. That’s a really good kick start for us.”
The Toys for Tots campaign started more than 70 years ago and in that time it has seen some changes, but the goal has always been the same, making sure every child wakes up to a brighter Christmas morning.
“Back in the early 50s, Thunder Bay firefighters actually repaired old wooden toys,” Penna said. “People would donate toys and they would fix them up and then give them to the children. It progressed to us raising money and buying gifts for these children. It’s about community. It’s about Christmas and the spirit of Christmas.”
Donations will be accepted at the Toys for Tots display at Intercity Shopping Centre and any TD Canada Trust branch locations until Dec. 23.
