THUNDER BAY -- Linda Gambee can breathe a little easier knowing that every child that needs a toy next Christmas will get one.
Thunder Bay firefighters presented Gambee, Christmas Cheer chairwoman, with a cheque for more than $153,000 from this year’s Toys for Tots campaign Friday afternoon by the food court in Intercity Shopping Centre.
“It’s so fun at the moment to wait for them to take off that sheet of paper to tell us what they made,” said Gambee.
“We can relax and not worry about toys for our kids,” she said.
Discovering what’s been raised each year is always overwhelming and Gambee said her mind was racing from the excitement.
“It’s overwhelming for the firefighters to do all the work but for the community to just come in and give that money freely, it’s extremely overwhelming,” she said.
This year’s total is up from last year’s $149,540 and campaign chairman Bob Vander Ploeg it’s humbling to know that people in the community believe in the cause as much as the firefighters do.
“The firefighters just receive donations…we stand here. We make ourselves available and we promote the cause,” he said, noting they don’t need to do much in terms of fundraising; people always come to them.
After 14 years at the helm of Toys of Tots, Vander Ploeg is stepping down as chairman and passing on the reins.
The experience has been fulfilling and Christmas always brings out so much generosity in people, from the people who walk through the mall and give what they can to the people who rally their friends and coworkers to raise hundreds or thousands of dollars for the cause.
“It’s been very rewarding,” said Vander Ploeg. “I feel like I’ve gotten more out of it than anybody else.”
