630 CHED Santas Anonymous delivery weekend is finally here.
This Saturday and Sunday volunteers will be lining up at Santas Depot, at 12122 68 St. NW, to help bring toys to roughly 20,000 kids in need.
“We are going to be going to almost 9,000 Edmonton homes and that represents about 20,000 children,” executive director Lana Nordlund said. “We have enough toys to fill those requests. However, we are still short on toys for people who applied too late for their deliveries. They’ll have to come to our walk-in program next week.”
The walk-in program is for anyone who won’t be able to accept the gifts this weekend, for any number of reasons.
Nordlund said they expect around another 2,000 families to take part in the walk-in program.
“They get their grocery card certificates and certificates for teenagers, and another part of their application goes to the Toy Fort. And we get the toys ready for the kids, and then everything gets matched up. By the time they leave Santas Depot, they have everything they need for their Christmas.”
This is done in conjunction with the Christmas Bureau of Edmonton.
Nordlund added that they’re still in need of volunteers for this weekend and the walk-in week.
“We are in need of drivers,” Nordlund said. “And because there are over 1,500 drivers that normally come, we do not take registration, it’s all on a first come basis.”
Nordlund said that they’re expecting to be just as busy as last year, and any help is welcome.