With Christmas less than a month away, the local Santa's Elves are busy not making but collecting toys for all the girls and boys in Bonnyville.
The Santa's Elves program, which started in the 1970's, is headed by Bonnyville Centralized High School in collaboration with the Knights of Columbus and the Bonnyville Friendship Centre. BCHS teacher Janice Zazulak said the program ensures every child gets a gift on Christmas.
“We gather gifts from the community and we've got a committee here of staff and students that organize these gifts for families that don't have the funds to provide gifts for their children.”
Last year, the group wrapped close to 2,500 gifts to be delivered to 335 kids in the Town and Municipal District of Bonnyville. Zazulak said the fewer children that are in need for gifts the better, but the numbers keep growing.
“Bonnyville is a growing community. We expect that we'll be wrapping many more gifts than last year.”
The program is anonymous. As long as a child is registered with the Knights of Columbus or the Friendship Centre, Zazulak said the group will provide a gift for every one of the registered children.
The kindergarten classes at Duclos School have also gotten involved with Santa's Elves. The students will be gathering new teddy bears for the program and getting a chance to see the “Toy Shop” when they drop the bears off at BCHS.
“We will have older students involved with doing activities with the kindergarten kids and I do believe that Santa Claus will be here with milk and cookies for them,” said Zazulak.
The program isn't just important to the children receiving the gifts; it's also valuable to the students involved. Zazulak said it gives them a sense of reality during the season of giving.
“It's really a reality check for all of them, especially when they see the number of families that do struggle throughout the season. I think students really need to understand that this is a time of giving, not a time of receiving.”
While any kinds of toys are appreciated, sometimes people forget that older kids need Christmas presents too. Santa's Elves is always short on gifts for kids ages 10 to 17, Zazulak said one of their goals for this year is to make sure there are enough toys in stock for that age group.
Toys can be dropped off in bins at businesses across town including Mr. Mikes, the Bonnyville Town Office, the C2 Centre, the RedApple, and at BCHS. Ducharme Motors have also donated a truck bed to fill up with donated gifts. Donations can be dropped off at any of the locations until noon on Dec. 17. Santa's Elves will be holding their wrapping party that same day.
When all of the toys are in, Zazulak said the committee would organize them based on age and gender. The wrapping party will happen from around 3:30 to 7 p.m. and is open to anyone in the community, with supper and treats served to the wrappers. Once the wrapping is finished, the Knights of Columbus will pick the gifts up to be distributed to all of the registered families.
Zazulak said it's been a very successful program, and their goal is to continue to get the word out about the need in our community.
“We want to remind our community that there are families here in need of support during the holidays and just for them to continue dropping off toys at the various businesses. I also have businesses that will have a staff party and buy toys to donate instead of giving toys to each other, and businesses and individuals that will send in monetary donations. It's just keeping the word out there.”
