Volunteers help Centre 55’s Share A Christmas deliver holiday cheer to local families in need
By MATTHEW STEPHENS
With the help of Centre 55, Santa’s workload was made significantly lighter – as numerous local volunteers showed up throughout the day on Wednesday, Dec. 17, to support the Share A Christmas program by helping to distribute toys, gift cards and grocery cards to East Toronto families in need.
“It’s a wonderful event,” resident and volunteer Marilyn Reed told Beach Metro Community News as she loaded her car with bags of toys to be delivered to members of the community.
“It really makes you feel like you’re doing something meaningful for the community.”
Reed was just one of many local volunteers who showed up at Centre 55, at Main Street and Swanwick Avenue, on Wednesday between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. to fill their vehicles with toys and other items for delivery.
“I started volunteering for this a long time ago,” said Phil Lameira. “I haven’t been able to do it for the past few years. But this year, I thought that I’d come down and revisit the idea of helping the community.”
Lameira has a strong connection to the community, having served as the general manager of Beach Metro Community News for a number of years.
Each volunteer who came out on Wednesday was invited to the upper floor of Centre 55 to receive packaged toys and gift cards, each with a specific delivery address.
Volunteers were then sent back downstairs to fill their bags with additional items from a room filled with a surplus of supplementary donated toys, which, according to Centre 55 Executive Director Reza Khoshdel, are to be donated to “women’s shelters who are always in need of assistance.”
“Every single year, the need grows bigger and bigger,” said Khoshdel, gesturing around him in the room filled with donated toys.
“We’re so incredibly thrilled and blessed to be able to meet that demand every single year, and it’s all because of partners like RBC and the community contributing not only monetary, but also their time.”
In addition to the community’s support for the program, RBC Dominion Securities Inc. on Queen Street East in the Beach contributed a $3,000 cheque towards the Share A Christmas program.
Volunteers distributed gifts to families living north of Lake Ontario, south of Danforth Avenue, east of Coxwell Avenue, and west of Victoria Park Avenue.
Over it’s 44 years of operation, the Share A Christmas program has become a staple in East Toronto, proving thousands of local families in need access to gift cards, toys, and food over the holidays.
Khoshdel expressed his gratitude to those who showed up to volunteer their time and efforts to support those in need during Christmas.
“They’re out here this morning delivering toys to families, and it means the absolute world to me because it’s community that comes together to help people that are in need this Christmas,” said Khoshdel.
For more information about Centre 55, head to https://www.centre55.com/
