THUNDER BAY — Thunder Bay firefighters celebrated a strong result in its annual Toys for Tots fundraising campaign on Friday, as campaign organizers reported demand for support through the fundraiser also increased steeply.
The Thunder Bay Professional Firefighters Association, which has led the charitable holiday tradition for decades, announced in an event at the Intercity Shopping Centre it had raised $159,602 in this year’s campaign.
It’s the second-highest haul since 2015, with only last year’s $162,199 result narrowly topping it.
Paul Penna, chair of the TBPFA Toys for Tots campaign, called that a reflection of the spirit of a “generous city” that’s long chipped in well over $100,000 a year in donations.
“We were hoping to get into this range,” he said. “We’re extremely satisfied with that number. You know, we had 4,500 kids that were in need this year, so it’s pretty important … The fact that we can help that many children, it means a lot to our guys.”
The funds are used to purchase gifts for thousands of local kids every year, which are handed out each December along with Christmas Cheer hampers, which themselves provide a week’s worth of groceries and Christmas dinner ingredients to families in need.
This year’s strong haul will give the campaign’s “toy team” a strong start when it begins shopping for items next year in March.
The team, some of whom have previous experience in business and have access to wholesale purchasing, has a policy that gifts must be Canadian, and looks for gifts that are multifaceted and engaging, said Joleene Kemp of Christmas Cheer.
Toys for Tots is a tradition dating back to the early 1950s, when firefighters began fixing wooden toys for Christmas.
In that time, the campaign has evolved, and the need has grown, Penna said, notably in recent years — fewer than 4,000 kids had signed up as recently as 2020.
“It always seems to climb a little bit,” he said. “We were under 4,000 kids a couple of years ago, then it crept up closer to 4,000, now 4,500. It’s not surprising, considering what the world has been going through … so we’re glad to be part of helping people.”
Kemp was proud to see the campaign continue to raise significant funds for those in need.
However, she said the rising numbers of those looking for aid, with 8,700 people benefiting from hampers this year, should be a red flag.
“Many of these families unfortunately, they’re working, but as we all know, when you work for [minimum wage], it doesn’t take long to eat up all of your money in a month. Many of them are also accessing the food banks.”
She said shelters are also seeing more families come for meals as they run out of groceries earlier in the month.
“That tells us a very sad story about what in fact is happening, and I think it needs to be a wake-up call that as a society, we have to start doing things differently. We’re a plentiful country, but within Thunder Bay, we have people who are living in third world conditions, and that’s not acceptable.”
