Silly Goose Kids store helps Centre 55’s Share A Christmas program with online toy registry

By JESSICA SHACKLETON

Toys are important to the holiday season and children’s shop Silly Goose Kids is doing its part to help local toy drives, including Centre 55’s Share A Christmas program, have maximum reach.

The store itself has been on Danforth Ave. for more than a decade, but Ti-Anna Wang bought the business in May of this year.
One of the first things she did was set up an online shop, something the store didn’t offer before.

As the holiday season approached, she noticed that many toy drives had an Amazon link to wishlists for people wanting to donate. This got her thinking.

“Now that we have an online store, we could provide a similar service. This is the idea that it would make donating gifts easier,” she said.

“The holidays are a super busy time, and participating in a toy drive means you have to go buy a gift. A lot of people are not interested in shopping on Amazon these days, so we built a registry on our website.”

One of the causes Silly Goose Kids is collecting donations for is Centre 55’s Share A Christmas program. The program has been helping families in need in the community over the holidays for more than 40 years, and part of the campaign includes collecting donations of new unwrapped toys for distribution before Christmas Day.

Wang reached out to Centre 55 to see what they needed and to make a toy registry based on that information.

“Toy drives generally are missing things from the baby category and the 12-plus category, so we curated our registry, especially for Centre 55, to include more things for those sections,” she said.

“From the baby section, we have things like rattles, teethers, baby toys, and for the older kids we have books and board games so that everyone can have something to open on Christmas.”

Silly Goose Kids is making it easy for people to donate to the toy drive by handling the delivery and logistics of the items. Donors can also enjoy a 10 per cent discount at the store. Online orders of donations and a physical box at the cash register are available.

The store is located at 2054 Danforth Ave. and has a large selection of books, pretend play items, and craft activities.

“We want to make our store more than just a retail space. We’re also a community hub for families. This neighbourhood is full of kids,” said Wang. “And Centre 55 is great because it really prioritizes families in our neighbourhood. The catchment area is the same customer base we serve. We find that our clients are really interested in supporting Centre 55.”

Silly Goose Kids is also collecting donations for CP24 CHUM Christmas Wish and the Super Sophia Project. Donations for Centre 55 are open until Dec. 17.

To visit the Centre 55 gift registry, please go to https://sillygoosekids.ca/pages/swym-registry-gifter?registryId=2042783

For more information on how to help Centre 55’s Share A Christmas program, including volunteer opportunities, please go to https://www.centre55.com/