With the Salvation Army's Christmas hampers set to start going out the door on Thursday, the charity has issued a plea for more toy donations.
Parents of children aged zero to 12 can get a bag of age-appropriate toys for each of their children through the annual holiday campaign, which aims to ensure every little boy and girl has a gift to open on Christmas morning. However, the Salvation Army is currently running low on items for ages zero to two and ages nine to 12.
"For the older kids, we could use craft sets, age-appropriate makeup, hair ties, sports items, science kits and hats and mitts," said Nancy Kerr, community and family services manager at the Salvation Army Centre of Hope. "For the little kids, we are looking for things like sleepers and any toy listed for ages two and under."
To see a full list of donation drop-off locations and needed items click here.
Unlike in previous years, the thousands of Londoners who rely on the program will not have to wait in long lines to receive a hamper. Instead, due to COVID-19 related changes, distribution is being done by appointment only at four different places - Silverwood Arena at 50 Sycamore St., the Salvation Army London Citadel at 555 Springbank Dr., the Salvation Army Westminster Park at 1190 Southdale Rd. E., and at the Hillcrest Community Church at 310 Vesta Rd.
So far, approximately 4,000 people have registered and booked a pick-up appointment. Another 1,500 appointment times remain available.
"We still have quite a few appointments available for next week. So we would love it if people who haven't registered yet could get on line and do that," said Kerr. "We are concerned that there will be a lot of people who don't heard about the distribution changes and wait too late and maybe can't get an appointment. We would hate to see someone miss out."
Online registration at centreofhope.ca/christmas runs now through December 4.
Instead of the usual food hamper packed with items needed to prepare a traditional Christmas dinner, families will be given a gift card intended to cover the cost of the meal.
Last year, the Salvation Army distributed 4,434 food hampers and 6,765 bags of toys to nearly 4,500 families across the London region. Kerr anticipates even more hampers will be needed this year.
"With the pandemic and many people losing their jobs, we know that if this wasn't available to the public there would be some who would be unable to provide a Christmas for their children or would be forced to choose between a Christmas for their kids or paying rent or buying food," said Kerr. "This is an important program and the need is even greater this year."