More than 5,000 toys collected during Toy Mountain campaign

CTV’s Krista Simpson explains how you can help those in need this Christmas.

A towering mountain of toys and gifts has once again been carefully disassembled at the CTV News Kitchener studio.

The Toy Mountain campaign has officially wrapped up for another year. On Thursday morning, Salvation Army representatives stopped by and collected the donations, packing them away and loading them into vehicles to take back to their distribution centre to make sure they get to families in need.

“It’s been a hard year for people,” Salvation Army Captain Kelly Fifield said.

The challenges were evident when the Salvation Army stopped by halfway through the campaign to collect donations early amid a toy shortage.

Most of the donations that had come in up to that point were packed up to immediately go to families looking for help.

Within days, the mountain was rebuilt thanks to the giving spirit of the community.

“Seeing those community partners, individuals and businesses say, ‘We saw that story. We saw that you had to take it. So we kept going and we kept pushing.’” Fifield said. “For me, that’s just an incredible feeling, knowing that we’re not alone in serving our community. That it’s a community effort to support each other.”

All told, 5,331 toys were collected from the CTV studios alone. Other donations were still being collected from other drop off locations, including Canadian Tire stores in Kitchener, Cambridge, Waterloo, Guelph and Elmira, Access Storage on Queen Street South in Kitchener, Goemans Appliances on King Street East in Kitchener, The Cora Group on Wes Graham Way in Waterloo, Best Buy on Stone Road West in Guelph, Guelph Fire departments, Habitat for Humanity on Dawson Road in Guelph, Mastermind Toys on Stone Road in Guelph and the Stone Road Mall in Guelph.

Some of those toys will be handed out to families over the next few days, while others will be stored to start off next year’s campaign.

“We’re seeing some of those items come in and I’m going, ‘Yes! We get to put this on our shelf because I know this is what somebody is looking for,” Fifield said.

But the work is far from over.

The focus now shifts to fundraising to cover the cost of the programs the Salvation Army runs throughout the year.

“This year, our goal is $250,000, and there are many ways that people can give,” Captain Cory Fifield said.

Anyone doing some Christmas shopping may see Salvation Army volunteers collecting donations for their annual Kettle Campaign. That initiative will continue until Christmas Eve.

Anyone who wants to give back is also encouraged to consider donating their time.

The Salvation Army said even a few hours at a kettle can go a long way.

“Everyone has to give how they’re able to. Sometimes the greatest gift people can give us is their time. Standing on a kettle and saying Merry Christmas and thanking donors is a great way to give back at Christmas time,” Cory said.