More than 100 children took home wrapped Christmas presents for mom and dad Saturday at the 7th Talk Tillsonburg Children Shop for Christmas event at the Upper Deck Youth Centre.
“It’s been a good day, a lot of kids, a lot of little ones,” said organizer Cathy Ryan, founder of Talk Tillsonburg. “And it’s been a fun day – Redneck Elmo’s still here. He’s so devoted!”
Fifteen volunteers from Thriver Company, a dance, fitness and wellness studio in Tillsonburg, volunteered to decorate Upper Deck, greet families on arrival, help children ages 2-12 select presents for mom and dad, wrap the presents, and clean up afterwards.
The young Thriver dancers weren’t keeping track of how many presents each of them wrapped individually, but they all agreed it was ‘a lot.’
“We know how many kids were here,” said Sophia Tomico.
“So it’s that times two,” said Adelyn Hayes at her first Children Shop for Christmas.
“More than 10, definitely,” said Tomico. “I did a lot.”
“I’d say I did 10,” said Jordan Pottelberg. “You did… 40?”
“It was fun,” said Hayes. “I liked seeing them pick out their presents.”
“Yeah, I liked seeing how exited they’d get to pick out their presents for their mom and dad,” said Tomico.
“This is our first go at it (as Thriver), but Danscene has been involved since the very beginning and as the next chapter of Danscene it only made sense for us to continue the tradition,” said Thriver Co. co-owner Renee Pelland .
“I know all of our kids are super excited to have been able to participate again. They’ve been asking about it since the summer, so we’re really happy to be involved. It’s been really cool to see all the kids coming through and they are all so excited to bring things home to their families. We’re just so grateful to be able to be part of it and we’re looking forward to next year.”
Gifts and Christmas treats were donated by the community and were free for the 106 participating children, some of them as young as one year old. Leftover gifts will be auctioned on Facebook and proceeds will go toward next year’s Children Shop for Christmas.
“I have to come up with some creative ways to raise more money next year,” said Ryan, noting she also receives a $1,000 grant from Walmart toward the event.
“Feeling happy, very happy. Another wonderful year. It’s been a really great day.”