Hundreds of elves filled a Calgary warehouse on Saturday to help make spirits a bit brighter for families across Calgary on Christmas Eve.
It takes a lot space to house hundreds of elves and gifts for 800 families.
The warehouse in southeast Calgary is now the new headquarters for the Magic of Christmas.
The charity had to vacate their last temporary home in March because the rent was too high.
Fortunately, they managed to find a place that will save them around $6,000 dollars a month, which can go to families in need instead of rent.
“We try and make sure that every bit of money that is donated goes to helping families. We are all volunteers. No one takes a salary,” said Magic of Christmas president Scott Perley.
The volunteers were being trained on Saturday for their big day when they go around the city on buses provided by Calgary Transit handing out gifts to people in need.
The McManus family now has three generations at the annual elf rally with the addition of seven-month-old Georgia.
“People take for granted what they have and when you do stuff like this, you realize not everybody has everything they need,” said Eric McManus, holding his little girl on his lap at the elf rally.
They got involved by accident — literally — when a Magic of Christmas bus got stuck in their cul-de-sac in Radisson Heights while making a delivery to neighbours.
“Being curious, we ran outside and all these little elves and Santa Claus came running out of the bus, and we weren’t sure what it was because we had never heard of Magic of Christmas before,” said Tina McManus, Eric’s mom and new grandma.
“The elves came out and started handing out Christmas gifts to all the kids in the neighbourhood, and all the neighbours pitched in and brought out Christmas baking for the elves and Santa,” McManus recalled with a smile.
The family helped get the bus back on track and Santa and the elves were on their way again.
“There was somebody, probably more than one home, within our cul-de-sac they were going to – so they did manage to get there while they were stuck and they hand-delivered all those gifts,” McManus said.
This is the fourth year now that the McManus family has been on the bus.
“It’s amazing. I recommend anyone to do it. Nothing will touch your heart and soul as much as being as part of Magic of Christmas. It makes me appreciate everything I have,” McManus said.
Demand for a visit from the elves is up this year. They rely on referrals from various social agencies and teachers. Perley said they’ve never had this many requests this early.
“When I checked a couple of days ago we had over 900 requests already and we plan to visit 800 and we don’t close our referrals until December 10.”
The group needs donations of money and gift cards, especially for teenagers because they’re difficult to buy for and Perley said they make sure that everyone in the family gets a gift.
Visit www.themagicofchristmas.org to learn how you can support.
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