The holiday spirit was in full force Wednesday afternoon on Bell Farm Road as a truck load of toys for kids was delivered to those children who may need the pick-me-up that comes with a gift.
A 53-foot tractor-trailer from Thomson Terminals dropped off $50,000 worth of toys for the County of Simcoe Paramedics Services' annual toy drive.
The toys were delivered to the Family Connexions parking lot at 60 Bell Farm Rd., where they will be sorted and then distributed, with the guidance of Family Connexions staff, to the most-needed areas of the county.
Now in its 18th year, the toy drive has collected more than 84,000 toys, more than 37,000 pounds of food, and more than $172,000 in monetary and gift-card donations for families across Simcoe County.
All donations that come in through the toy drive are distributed to local children and families in need by charitable organizations working in partnership with County of Simcoe Paramedic Services.
Paramedic Greg Sharp originally organized the campaign in 2002 when there were toy drives at different paramedic stations throughout the county. He soon got behind trying to grow the campaign as one big event.
Sharp says his passion for continuing the campaign comes from what he and his peers see as they serve the community around the clock on a daily basis.
“We keep at this because of what we see nearly everyday; we see the need when we get into houses. A lot of the issues are hidden and you don’t always necessarily know about your neighbour’s problems,” Sharp told BarrieToday. “We’ve got the workforce and the visibility, so we can do something to give back.”
He admits this year brings many challenges for donating, but county paramedics and the charities are doing all they can to keep people safe.
“This year has been a lot different, and while we are accepting physical donations, we're really pushing online donations through the website,” said Sharp. “Also, gift cards are something we really want to push as they are easily contaminated and that is an easier job for those charities we support.”
Online donations can be made at the website by clicking here.
Donations of non-perishable food items and new, unwrapped toys can be made at the County of Simcoe Administration Centre, located at 1110 Highway 26 in Midhurst, between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., and at all Simcoe County paramedic stations, where outdoor drop boxes are now available.
