Thousands of donated toys and cash are on their way to kids in need this holiday season, after the 10th year of CTV Edmonton’s – along with 100.3 The Bear and 104.9 Virgin Radio – Toy Mountain campaign ended Friday. The mountain of toys was disassembled and counted up, with a human chain snaking around Trail Appliances in the city’s south side, as volunteers prepped the new, unwrapped gifts for its delivery to the local Boys and Girls Club Big Brothers Big Sisters (BGCBigs) chapter. “The generosity of the folks here in Edmonton has been amazing,” Trail Appliances marketing director Sean Fero told CTV Edmonton’s Kimberly Wynn Friday morning. “We see things like Lego and robots and stuffies and all the things that will hopefully make a child’s Christmas morning a little brighter.” The family-owned and operated business has been in the community for more than 50 years, partnering with CTV Edmonton for the past eight years of the Toy Mountain charity drive. It has also partnered with CTV Calgary for the last nine years. Leah Oakley, with BGCBigs, says the “awesome campaign” will bring holiday cheer to kids from 6 years old to over 18 years old on Christmas Day. “It just means so much to walk in and see this mountain of toys and think about all those people who took their time out of their day to get something special for a kid they don’t know,” Oakley said as the toys were being counted up, adding that the charity celebrates all kinds of holidays. Zac Davis, Promotions Director with CTV Edmonton, said the final tally for the holiday drive was 2,410 toys and $15,225 in cash donations. The campaign kicked off on Nov. 12 with various drop-off locations at Trail Appliances and Sentinel Storage. “We encourage the community members to come out and donate a toy at one of these locations and this is what you get from it,” Davis said while pointing at the big pile of toys. “It’s impressive.” He added that “play is so important” for children and the holidays can be a stressful time of year for families, which makes the campaign that much more “wonderful.” Independent Jewellers and AMJ Campbell were also partners for the Toy Mountain campaign in Edmonton. To follow along with the holiday drive this year, watch videos on the Toy Mountain page of the ctvnewsedmonton.ca website. With files from CTV Edmonton’s Kimberly Wynn
