Seasonal shuffles for the Sally Ann in Calgary and Lethbridge

Participants gather in Eau Claire Market prior to the start of Saturday's Santa Shuffle

Hundreds of elves joined Santa Claus outside of Eau Claire Market for Saturday morning’s Santa Shuffle Fun Run & Elf Walk to raise funds to help impoverished Canadians.

Participants basked in the warm December weather during their 5K run or 1K walk.

‘We’ve got close to 800 runners out today,” said The Salvation Army’s Pam Goodyear. “It certainly help that the weather is warmer than some years.”

“We’ve got the very young, under one year old, to those in their seventies out participating in this event today.”

Saturday’s fundraiser was the 25^th running of the annual event that benefits The Salvation Army Christmas Appeal. The Santa Shuffle was held in a total of 41 cities across Canada including a run in Lethbridge's Nicholas Sheran park.

The Salvation Army’s Wendy Mouland says the Lethbridge run has grown in recent years and the increase in donations allows the organization to make a bigger impact in the community.

“It helps us restore a little bit of dignity to those who are struggling,” explained Mouland. “It’s not always easy to ask for help.”

“These funds help us to alleviate some of the pressures at Christmas time.”

Combined, more than 1,000 runners took part in Saturday’s fundraisers in southern Alberta.