The 27th annual Oakville Firefighters Toy Drive is currently underway, and I'm excited to partner with the Firefighters this year to ensure that every child has a gift to open on Christmas morning.
The Oakville Firefighters Association will be accepting donations of new, unwrapped toys and gift cards at any Oakville Fire Station through December 18th. This year, Oakville Firefighters have issued a special call for gifts for boys and girls aged 11-15.
My constituency office, located at 2525 Old Bronte Road in Suite 590, will also be accepting donations for the drive during regular business hours until December 16th. Already the community is responding in the holiday spirit, with an anonymous donor dropping off $500 in gift cards, and another donor sending in a generous cheque to purchase gift cards.
All donations will be forwarded to the Firefighters, who will distribute them directly to local families and community agencies supporting children and youth such as Big Brothers Big Sisters Halton, and Halton Women’s Place among others.
I've had the pleasure of helping in various capacities with the Toy Drive for many years, and am always impressed with the hard work that Kurt Merriman, organizer of the Oakville Firefighters Toy Drive, puts in to bring joy to thousands of kids each Christmas. There is a special need for gifts suitable for boys and girls aged 11 to 15, as last year therewas a shortage of gifts that were age-appropriate for this group.I hope that this is the year that no child or youth in need has to go without.
Merriman had Youth Ambassadors speak to hundreds of youth this year to see what gift cards would be most popular. According to the Ambassadors, the following gift cards would be most welcome for this age group:
- Starbucks
- Cineplex
- Chapters
- Indigo
- iTunes
- Amazon
- Adidas
- H&M
- Nike
- National Sports
- Escape Room
- American Eagle
- Value Village
- Sportchek
- EB Games
- Garage
In 2018, the Oakville Firefighters Toy Drive provided toys and gifts to 4,206 local children and youth in need who would otherwise not have had a gift at Christmas. For more gift ideas and any further information about the Drive, visit the Oakville Firefighters website at www.oakvillepffa.com/toy-drive.
Oakville Fire Stations
- Station 1: 2535 Rebecca Street
- Station 2: 2264 Cornwall Road
- Station 3: 168 Kerr Street
- Station 4: 2024 Sixth Line
- Station 5: 1146 South Service Road West
- Station 6: 1510 Postmaster Drive
- Station 7: 2010 Joshuas Creek Drive
- Station 9: 3250 Neyagawa Blvd