Charity ‘The Magic of Christmas’ needs some help of its own

WATCH ABOVE: As Tracy Nagai reports, so far the charity only has one-tenth of its donations and time is ticking.

CALGARY- It’s an organization that makes the holiday season extra special for hundreds of Calgarians.

But this year, ‘The Magic of Christmas’ is in need.

After making Christmas a little brighter for countless families, the charity needs some help of its own.

While it may still seem early, Alan Reid the president of the organization says they wants to get the bulk of its work done as soon as possible.

“We don’t want to have to wait until the 20th, 21st, to do all the sorting and the planning. the sooner we can get that done the easier the 24th will be for us,” Reid said.

“This is about 2500 and it’s about one tenth of what we need so we need about 25,000 individual presents. This year we hope to visit about 450 families,” Alan Reid said.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "This is about 2500 and it's about one tenth of what we need so we need about 25,000 individual presents. This year we hope to visit about 450 families," Alan Reid said.

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Many of these presents were collected in September during a motorcycle toy run but since then, there’s only been a trickle of donations.

The charity is looking for gifts for all ages.

“From babies, all the way up to moms and dads. Moms and dads are the ones that get left out normally. Everyone donates for the younger children but yeah anything will help at this point,” Reid says.

So far the charity only has one-tenth of its donations and time is ticking.

Rebecca Gibson helps to sort through donations that at one time, she would have received.

“I was barely able to get food. I’d have to go to the food bank and I was juggling trying to pay bills, which one am I going to pay this time and which ones can I leave? So Christmas was on the back burner,” Gibson said.

At the time, she was also volunteering at ‘The Magic of Christmas’ and someone reached out to her and her two children.

It was December 24^th, 15 years ago.

“The smiles on their faces, the emotion, I can’t even explain or put it in to words what I felt at that time,” Gibson said. “They were bouncing off the walls. They were so excited to see Santa. They’re like Santa’s in our house.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "The smiles on their faces, the emotion, I can't even explain or put it in to words what I felt at that time," Gibson said. "They were bouncing off the walls. They were so excited to see Santa. They're like Santa's in our house."

For Rebecca Gibson, it’s all about giving back. This year she was able to donate $500, hopefully making someone else’s Christmas a little more magical.

If you would like to donate, you can visit “The Magic of Christmas’ workshop between 10 and 6 pm at 6812 Fairmount Drive S.E.

To donate household items, clothing, toys, electronics, etc, find a drop off location near you or at Santa’s Workshop. They request new items only.