Sparky’s Toy Drive has best support to date

By: Matt Weingarden, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Lakeshore News Reporter

The LaSalle Firefighters Associations run LaSalle’s annual Sparky’s Toy Drive program, dedicated to helping local families in need with new Christmas toys for their children aged 16 and under. In mid-November each year, families in need are asked to register with the program by providing documentation showing their financial need.

 

“This year’s drive has been a huge success,” said Brian Bartlett, one of the organizers of the event. “This year’s we’ve gotten our best support ever…it’s a bit overwhelming. Just when you think it couldn’t get any better, we continue to see growth every year.”

 

Bartlett says that they have collected thousands of toys this year from a number of local drop off points across LaSalle. He says that the need continues to increase citing growth of the community as one reason for the uptake in numbers.

 

“We couldn’t do this without the help of many local businesses,” he added. “All of the toys collected help local LaSalle families.”

 

The LaSalle Firefighters Associations run LaSalle’s annual Sparky’s Toy Drive program, dedicated to helping local families in need with new Christmas toys for their children aged 16 and under. Photos by Matt Weingarden, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Lakeshore News Reporter

New toys are donated at various locations that have generously agreed to place donation boxes, so we depend entirely on the generosity of local businesses and individuals to continue operating. All monetary donations are used solely for Sparky’s Toy Drive.

 

Their mission – to make a substantial, positive impact on families in our community who may be struggling to make ends meet, some of whom may be experiencing their first Christmas in Canada, and can’t always afford the small luxuries many of us take for granted.

 

Sparky’s Toy Drive LaSalle is run completely by volunteers who donate their time to registration, donation pick-up, packaging, and distributing. Their selflessness and our donors’ generosity is motivated by a desire to serve their community, and their sole reward is the gratitude of the families they help every year.

We appreciate your interest in Sparky’s Toy Drive LaSalle. Once the annual toy drive begins, our registration and donation pages will be available, whether you are in need or wish to donate to our cause.

 

Donations will be accepted at LaSalle Fire Service, 1900 Normandy Street until Monday, December 23.