Homegrown gift-giving initiative makes Christmas morning magic for families in need

Dozens of volunteers help run the organization each year. (Courtesy: Jenny Huynh)

On Christmas morning, hundreds of families throughout the Lower Mainland who otherwise might not have had anything to open were given sackfuls of brightly wrapped gifts to unwrap with their families, courtesy of a grassroots charity ran by one Surrey woman.

Gifts For Kids, run by Jenny Huynh, has just closed its most successful year since the initiative first began.

“It gives me a sense of comfort knowing that I give them a sense of relief for that time being. Some families, they're crying in tears. They're so grateful. Some families try to offer to help, to help wrap and deliver,” said Huynh, a health unit coordinator at Eagle Ridge Hospital in Port Moody.

The initiative began just before the pandemic, and has grown exponentially with each year that followed, said Huynh.

“I was scrolling through Facebook and I realized there were a lot of families on Facebook Marketplace looking for free, used toys,” she said.

“I thought, I could probably take care of these few families, that's not a big deal. That year, I took care of seven families on my own. Then the following year, there were 20,” she said.

Huynh’s parents, wider family and friends donated their time and efforts, and the following year the number grew to 32. Last year, the number of families helped by Huynh’s homegrown initiative topped 250.

"I didn't expect it to be huge. This was something my family and I were very passionate about doing, we just care about children a lot, and we want every child to not go without a Christmas gift,” she said.

“Our motto is, every child deserves a gift, even if it's something small. We wanted to make sure every child has at least one gift under the tree that's from Santa.”

Due to the initiative not being a licensed charity, Gifts For Kids doesn’t receive any funding from the government and relies solely on help from Huynh’s family, friends, and helpful volunteers.

“I reach out to people on Reddit, on Facebook, on Instagram, to see if anybody has any toys they want to donate, and if anybody can spare their time to wrap or deliver,” she said.

“The Reddit community online really comes through every year for me, whether that's delivery, wrapping or even donating, they are the huge reason why we are able to take care of this many families.”

This year alone, the initiative had 15 volunteers helping to wrap and 17 drivers who journeyed all over the Lower Mainland to deliver gifts. Eagle Ridge Hospital has also offered its own large-scale support group, said Huynh, who created a small box to put all the donations they had gathered.

The end goal is to carry the initiative to registered charity status, said Huynh, but in the meantime, she’s proud to be running it on a local, community level with the people she cares about most.

“I am totally happy just continuing being a self run group, I'm very proud of how far we've come. We started from using paper and a pen to running everything with these Google Forms and lengthy databases, organizing it to be as big as it is now.”

Already, Hunyh is focusing on what Christmas 2025 will bring to the families in need. She’s currently on the hunt for toys that are on sale after the festive period, and gifts she can buy in bulk overseas to ship cheaply to Vancouver.

For anyone who wishes to help next Christmas, Hunyh recommends visiting her social media and reaching out.

“We’re looking to build a community, and there’s always room for more helpers,” she said.