My 8-year-old son Colum asked me a pressing holiday question.
“Dad,” he said, “does Christmas fall during boxing week every
year?”
This was on Saturday, the last big shopping weekend before
Christmas, and the blowout savings had already begun. I’d been
driving around with Colum and his 6-year-old sister Irene all
day, so we knew all about the big sales. My kids like to listen
to the radio station that plays nothing but Christmas songs,
which means that between repeats of Simply Having a Wonderful
Christmastime and Winter Wonderland, we listen to a
lot of Christmas commercials.
I explained the history and evolution of the marketing of
holiday retail sales, and we all had a good laugh. But his
question seemed perfectly natural in the
stuff-you’ll-want-at-the-prices-you’ll-love,
all-shopping-all-the-time environment of the post-millennial
Christmas season. It can sometimes seem that the story of Santa
Claus is just another reminder of how you can fulfill your wish
list with no money down.
We weren’t shopping, that last weekend before the big day. Colum
and Irene and I were participating in another Christmas
tradition, one that reminded us of the spirit of the season from
the opposite direction: focused not our abundant opportunities
to get stuff, but our equally abundant and more important
opportunities to give to those around us, particularly those in
need. We were delivering gifts on behalf of the Toronto Star
Santa Claus Fund.
In 1906, the Star’s founder Joseph Atkinson, a child of poverty
who had benefitted from the generosity of others, began asking
readers to donate money to buy gifts to distribute to children
who might otherwise get few or none. The tradition he started
has continued and grown every year since, and now delivers a bit
of joy to children in five GTA cities. This year, Star readers
helped the fund reach its goal of $1.6 million in donations,
helping to buy, wrap and deliver 45,000 gifts.
“It’s always wonderful to see the generosity of Star
subscribers, employees, and people who have been touched by the
Star and the fund in its over century in existence,” says
Toronto Star publisher John Cruickshank. “The core of the whole
exercise is fundamentally about belonging. For us it’s been part
of the mandate of the Star for more than a century to declare
that those people who are not included in other people’s visions
of the city are part of our city. They are our fellow citizens.
We place great hope in their futures. And this is such a small
thing for us to do. This is part of how we see ourselves in this
city. We do it in the paper, in the website and the tablet every
day, and this is, for some small children, this is a more
tangible way to do that. To say you do belong.”
Some donations came in large packages, like the $10,000 from
Ross Petty, an annual donor who has donated $250,000 to the fund
since 1998, or from the family of the late Gary Zentil, who
carried on his annual Charity Spin fitness event, donating
$20,800. Other events brought communities together, such as the
36th annual Toronto Star Concert at St. Paul’s that raised more
than $46,000. Many more individual donations poured in, in
amounts small and large, which ensured the target was met and
children had gifts to smile about.
Others gave their time — the Santa Fund drew on the work of
several hundred volunteers this year, who wrapped gifts in our
warehouses and distributed them across the city and beyond, to
Mississauga, Brampton, Ajax and Pickering. Scouts Canada played
a large role in delivery, as did members of church and school
groups and service clubs. More than 450 general public
volunteers helped out this year, too. From across the city,
people chipped in to make Christmas a little brighter for a lot
of children.
My own children were giddy at being able to help out — we woke
early to get to the warehouse, load up the car with a couple
dozen festively decorated boxes and hit the road. We delivered
to an area in west Toronto north of St. Clair, only a few blocks
from our house, spending more than seven hours on the road and
on people’s doorsteps. My daughter and son would read the names
and ages of the children we were delivering to and shout them.
“She’s a 6-year-old girl,” she exclaimed at one point, “she’s
just like me!” These were our neighbours, and in meeting them
that day we underlined our own sense of belonging in our
community.
We met grateful fathers at the doors of apartment blocks,
smiling mothers in basement apartments, kids in strollers
outside their bungalows. At each door, we said “Merry
Christmas.”
At each door the response was the same. “Thank you.”
It’s a heartfelt message of gratitude delivered to us, but meant
for all those readers, staff, and volunteers who donated their
time and money to make the Santa fund a success again this year.
I extend the same message to you on behalf of my own family. At
one point, we were standing in an apartment door on Winona Dr.,
and my children gave a gift directly to a 2-year-old girl who’d
come to the door with her mother to meet us. Her mother and I
exchanged greetings but the kids exchanged something else: the
little girl stared at them wide-eyed with wide-open grin, as if
she couldn’t believe what was happening. Colum and Irene giggled
and cheered for her, sharing her excitement.
That’s a feeling of connection you can’t buy at a boxing week
sale.
Thank you.
Edward Keenan writes on city issues
ekeenan@thestar.ca .
Follow: @thekeenanwire