CANORA - With an ambitious goal of $3,500 in donations, there was probably some doubt in the minds of Yuletide Toy Drive organizers as to whether the challenge of rapid inflation in recent months would prevent Canora and area residents from supporting this popular holiday season tradition as they had in the past.
But residents showed the true spirit of Christmas, blowing past the goal with time to spare and reaching a final total of $5,298.
Over and above that figure, The Red Apple Store gave back a total of $795 for additional toy purchases.
Jocelyne Weinbender, spokesperson, expressed her appreciation for the support.
“The community is fabulous, the support is just great, especially now with things being tougher and everything getting more expensive,” said Weinbender. “Maybe people are inspired by what they’re seeing in the world today, especially with all the horrible things in the news. They want to spread a bit of joy and make someone’s life easier.”
Weinbender reported that there were plenty of volunteers of all ages to help make sure everything ran smoothly on Fill the Sleigh Day at the Red Apple on Dec. 3, a central event in the success of the Yuletide Toy Drive.
“It was a great turnout of people coming in to donate on a cold day,” she said. “The crew from Canora Ambulance Care was there to volunteer, Red Apple employees helped out, and we had a number of young volunteers to take donations and help in other ways as well.”
Volunteers who gave of their time included: Alyssa Lukey, Aubrey Monette, Chance Weinbender, Daylia and Zennia Lukey, Claire Elliott, Jax McLeod, Lucas Thompson and Jayden Dergousoff.
Thanks to the support of donors, at press time a total of 38 children from 16 families were set to receive toys.
The majority of the donations came from Canora and surrounding area, but support was also received from as far away as Saskatoon.
“A heartfelt thank you to everyone,” said Weinbender “Also, we couldn’t have done this without the volunteers, where it was during Fill the Sleigh Day, or getting everything together and wrapping toys, or the toy deliveries by ambulance crews.
“Merry Christmas to everyone, and stay safe.”
