THUNDER BAY – This December, the RCMP, Gardewine Group – Transportation and Logistics and North Star Air are working to deliver toys to remote First Nations communities for Christmas.
Donated new toys, basic needs items and more arrived in Thunder Bay via CAF military aircraft C-17 Globemaster on Dec. 2.
“All of the toys you see here on the pallets that came here on the Globemaster last week, they come from the Canadian Toy Association. And that’s all through the wonderful folks at the RCMP, they do all the legwork down in Toronto,” said Karen Matson.
“They gather all this, they collect monetary donations which they did again this year. They’ve actually purchased packs for the 12-13 year old age category where they can get some nice grooming tools and such.”
North Star Air's team has been working with the “O” Division Royal Canadian Mounted Police, participating in the ‘Toys for the North’ charitable drive.
The initiative has evolved over the years to include a national network of RCMP, law enforcement, corporate and external partners who collectively contribute to the success of delivering new toys to children in remote Northern communities.
North Star Air has been a partner of the Toys for the North campaign for 7 of the 11 past years.
The toys, along with other donated goods including a truckload of teddy bears that the RFDA’s donated after the Teddy Bear Toss at a Thunderwolves game, will be air delivered in the coming weeks to remote northern Ontario First Nations communities via North Star Air's flight network.
After the cargo was debarked from the Globemaster, Gardewine Group –Transportation and Logistics moved the cargo to their local warehouse where volunteers have sorted the goods by age and gender per community.
“Once that is complete, and you can see we still have a bunch more to go through, we will then read out from the lists and conquer our communities. We’ve targeted four communities this year with the hopes of some remaining toys to send up for other communities,” Matson said.
"So once we finish here today, this is going to take us a good three or four hours perhaps but that’s ok because it’s all worth it to see the smiles on the kids' faces.”
Next, the goods will be transported by Gardewine Group – Transportation and Logistics to the North Star Air hangar in Pickle Lake where they will be loaded onto the Basler DC3 aircraft for their remote First Nation destinations.
Representatives from North Star Air, the media and a very special guest, Santa Claus, will bring joy to the many young people of the North thanks to the efforts of the RCMP and the network of donors.
