Christmas 2008 is one Christine Gold will never forget. She had finally saved enough money to buy her first home for her and her son but the holidays were quickly approaching and she realized she had no money left for anything else.
“Not food, not presents. It was Christmastime, I was panicking. I was worried about what I was going to get for my son. How are we going to eat? How are we going to live?” Gold recalled.
Gold swallowed her pride and reached out to 630 CHED Santas Anonymous for help, a move she now looks back on as one of the best things she’s ever done for her son.
“I managed to put some stuff under the tree that I never thought I’d be able to that year,” she said. “Christmas is Christmas. It’s a special time but it means something different when you have a child. It means everything – Santa’s coming, I’m getting gifts. It’s a special time and I wanted to make sure that happened.
“Just to see his smile and he was so excited, I pretty much cried the whole day. But it was happy cries, right? It was nothing to be sad about, just grateful and we had a great Christmas.”
Now in its 61st year, Santas Anonymous has a storied history in Edmonton. In 1955, it provided gifts for 600 Edmonton children. Now, Santas Anonymous delivers gifts to more than 25,000 kids in the city.
About 16,000 volunteer hours go into one year’s work at Santas Anonymous and the charity could not run without the donations it receives from generous Edmontonians.
READ MORE: Edmonton man embraces ‘spirit of giving’ as 46-year volunteer with Santas Anonymous
Now in a much better place financially, Gold and her son, Connor Lawrence, make it a point to give back to the charity that helped them out not too long ago.
“When my mom told me the position that we were in and how those people helped us it opened my eyes in probably the best way,” Lawrence, who is now 18, said.
“I was extremely surprised and grateful for the whole experience. Even afterwards just learning what my mom went through to get all that, it warmed my heart through and through to the Christmases to come and it made me grateful pretty much forever in my life that there’s a program out there for people to help others and just make them happy in times of need.”
Knowing what it means to nearly go without a gift for her child on Christmas morning, Gold encourages others to give too if they can.
“Donate anything you can. If you don’t have money, donate your time. If you don’t have time, donate money. Or even anything in your house that you’re no longer using, donate it to someone else,” she said. “It’s probably one of the fondest memories I hold near and dear to my heart and I tell everyone I meet about Santas Anonymous and how they can help.”
“If you have something to give absolutely give it and know that it’s going to a family and it’s going to warm their hearts and they’re going to be grateful for your contribution,” Lawrence added.
Watch below: 630 CHED Santas Anonymous has a storied history in Edmonton, dating back more than 60 years. Here’s a closer look at what goes into running the charity year after year.
Santas Anonymous has seen a 20 to 30 per cent increase in the number of children needing gifts this year and donations are about 20 per cent behind where they usually are at this time of year. Currently the organization is most in need of books for kids off all ages and toys for nine to 12-year-olds that do not require batteries or a computer.
For more information on how to donate, visit the Santas Anonymous website.
Global Edmonton will broadcast live from the Santas Anonymous depot for Global News at 5 and Global News Hour at 6 on Monday, Dec. 12.
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