It was still dark when the elves made their first departure from a warehouse in southeast Calgary on Christmas Eve morning to deliver gifts on behalf of local non-profit agency The Magic of Christmas.
The crew hopped on 20 buses donated by Calgary Transit loaded with goodies ready to be delivered to families across the city.
The Magic of Christmas is a Calgary charity that started in 1983 delivering donated gifts to homes, care centres and women’s shelters.
READ MORE: Global Calgary’s 2017 Morning of Giving collects donations for The Magic of Christmas
On Sunday, they marched through the doors of over 600 families.
“It was very surprising. We just woke up to carols and then my dad burst into our room and he said ‘Santa is here! Come here!'” Alyssa Gutierrez said.
It takes thousands of volunteers to make it all come together with much of the work done well before Christmas with volunteers donating their time gathering donations.
Even the warehouse space is donated and this year it’s filled with more than just boxes of toys. Over 200 new bikes were donated by local companies, as well as mattresses and box springs for people in need.
“It’s great and it just really fills your heart,” said volunteer elf Kelsey Murdoch. “It’s so emotional. It’s happy and it’s sad and it’s everything in between. So you can’t go wrong and once you do it once, you’re hooked.”
While the gifts are great, volunteers say it sometimes is more about the magical memories left behind that truly make this day special.
“We are here to bring joy at Christmas time. It’s not about the presents really. It’s about going and delivering joy to care homes and families who just need a little pick me up,” Murdoch said. “This last house we went into you could tell they really needed a visit from us. And that’s what it’s all about.”
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