Toys for Tots returns

Thunder Bay’s firefighters are playing Santa Claus all over again.

Their aim is to ensure no child goes without a present on Christmas morning, a goal they hope to meet through their annual Toys for Tots campaign, which last year raised more than $143,000.

Firefighter and campaign co-chairman Bob Vander Ploeg said the program, which began more than half-a-century ago, has become part of the fabric of the community during the holiday season. Even when times are tough, the people of Thunder Bay find a way to dig a little deeper and enrich the lives of the less fortunate around them.

“Our hope this year is that we can approach that mark again,” Vander Ploeg said. “Economic times are tough for many. There are a lot of good causes soliciting support at this time of the year, but we’re confident that Thunder Bay will support Toys for Tots as it has in the past.”

Since 1973, which is as far back as the organization’s records go, the charity has raised more than $2 million, which was turned into toys and delivered through the Christmas Cheer program.

“Without intending to, we usually raise a little bit more money every year than the previous year. And what happens,” he said, “is even when we’ve officially closed down our fundraising, people come to us after that date. Sometimes it’s even after Christmas, with a cheque or a donation they want to make because they’ve raised the money for that year.

“That’s been basically how we’ve grown it from year to year.”

On average they assume they’ll need to buy enough toys for between 3,000 and 3,500 children, a number Linda Gambee knows all too well.

As the Christmas Cheer chairwoman, she said the numbers just keep growing and called Toys for Tots an integral part of what they do each holiday season.

“Although we give out food from Christmas Cheer, it’s all about the kids. It’s all about what the kids can have at Christmas, what they can tell their friends they have when they open up their present,” Gambee said.

“If we didn’t have the Toys for Tots, we wouldn’t be able to fulfill that dream and bring magic to their Chrstmas. We’ve always maintained that the parents come with the kids. We do everything for the kids.”

Off-duty firefighters will be manning the Toys for Tots donation centre at Intercity Shopping Centre between now and Dec. 21.