Santa and his elves from the charity Magic of Christmas were busy working to get gifts to Calgary’s less fortunate Saturday.
Hundreds of volunteers dressed as elves helped prepare gifts and food hampers to donate to families, while donations poured in during the final hour.
Clayton Busher, the Magic of Christmas vice president, was worried about donations this year, as it had been slower than year’s past.
“Unfortunately with the economy the way it is, demand goes up and supply goes down,” Busher said. “Because there are people that don’t have jobs, unfortunately they do not give as much.”
Busher said the organization put out a call through the media, and Calgarians really stepped up.
“Our boxes went from empty, to…we have enough to fill and meet our goals if not exceed them slightly,” Busher said.
The charity has been operating in Calgary for 33 years and was founded in 1983 by Bob Johnson, to help teach his daughters about giving back during the holiday season.
Johnson dressed up as Santa and visited a troubled family with his daughters one year, and handed out gifts. He continued the tradition and started looking for more families every year.
Johnson passed away in 1999 but his family continued the tradition, and the charity has grown into an operation that helps out hundreds of families every year.
Bob Johnson’s daughter, Cheryl, believes that people are encouraged to support the charity because all of the proceeds go directly to families in need and it’s all volunteer-based.
“I think it just proves what a great program we have,” Johnson said.
Buses donated by Calgary Transit headed out with hundreds of volunteers throughout the day.
Busher said thanks to last minute donations, they expected to not only hit their target of helping 600 families, but possibly exceed their goal.
“We originally aimed for 600 homes, along with our hospital and care facility visits,” he explained. “With the supports that we got from Calgarians, we expect to hit 660 family homes this year.”
Eleanor Culver brought her teenage sons for the second year to help distribute gifts to those in need.
“It’s fantastic,” Culver said. “They do a little grumbling about getting up at six in the morning on Christmas Eve but I really do see the possibility of them changing, not only with their friends now but with their families down the road in the future.”
WATCH BELOW: It’s Christmas Eve and that means Santa and his elves from the Magic of Christmas were working to get gifts to Calgary’s less fortunate. Jenna Freeman reports.