North End toy drive gears up for party
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 22/11/2022 (1059 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Just call Kyle Mason one of Santa’s little helpers in Winnipeg.
Mason has been leading the North End Christmas Party for 14 years and has seen firsthand the impact the annual toy drive and event has had on local families.
“Every year, there’s always kids with huge smiles, parents with huge smiles,” he said of the Dec. 14 gathering at St. John’s Anglican Cathedral.
JOHN WOODS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES
Kyle Mason, a local indigenous activist and former Christian pastor, has been leading the North End Christmas Party for 14 years and has seen firsthand the impact the annual toy drive and event has had on local families.
Its goal this year is to give out 600-plus new unwrapped toys (of a $15-$20 value) for all youth of ages and genders. It also will be serving 500 turkey meals with all the fixings (sponsored by Birchwood Automotive Group).
“Every kid is going to walk out with a brand-new toy,” said Mason.
It all started at the former non-profit North End Family Centre. The event was its Christmas party, which Mason led for a decade, and served around 1,000 people some years.
The centre closed its doors in 2018, leaving “a lot of people asking me, ‘Oh, what about Christmas? What about Christmas?’” he said.
Mason and his team rebranded the gathering and, in the years since, the North End Christmas Party has continued on in the spirit (and work) that has given out tens of thousands of toys and meals over the span of 14 years.
“It’s a fantastic event. I know it’s touched loads of lives.”
Besides the dinner and donated gifts, there will be Christmas movies and carols. “The real Santa has been confirmed,” he added.
Family pictures with Santa at a mall can be expensive, he said, and there are many in the North End struggling to make ends meet.
With the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, added to recent inflation driving up costs of most everything, there is more pressure on families, Mason said. “It’s been a rough time for all of us, but for some people it’s been especially rough.”
Mason grew up in a single-parent household in the North End. The family was financially stressed, he said, so even though his mother worked hard to provide, “a lot of years, we ended up having a very humble Christmas season.”
Some years, there were no gifts at all or the only ones he got were from events such as the one he now leads.
“It doesn’t matter who you are or where you live, everybody wants to have a good magical holiday season for their kids,” said Mason, encouraging Winnipeggers to donate toys to the North End Christmas Party.
Its drop-off locations include: any Birchwood Automotive Group site, and Modern Coffee (191 Inkster Blvd.). Donations are being accepted until Dec. 14.
fpcity@freepress.mb.ca