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Over the decade Eva Chandler has been in charge of a Toronto Star Santa Claus Fund depot, she's made friends with families, watched little kids and student volunteers grow up -- and even been unexpectedly invited to a baby shower.
She cherishes the volunteer position she took on at the depot off Danforth Road, not far from her Scarborough home, after years of accompanying her Cub Scout group as they delivered gift boxes.
"These boxes work -- they're something that just gives a child a little bit of joy, a little something, a surprise," she said. "And it's something less the parent has to provide."
The Star's Santa Claus Fund, which began almost 120 years ago, provides 50,000 children from families in need across the Greater Toronto Area with clothing -- a hat, mitts, sweater and socks -- plus a treat, toy, book and a dental hygiene kit. (For babies, the gift boxes include sleepers and wipes.)
During the first two weekends of the season, Chandler coordinates volunteers, helping them load up their cars with gift boxes before they fan out to deliver to area homes and apartment buildings.
In the elevator of the depot's building on Gordonridge Place, Chandler often runs into moms who tell her their kids used to receive the boxes, and now they've gone off to university.
"It just gives me such a good feeling. I always say I'm selfish because I have so much fun at Gordonridge," Chandler said.
"When I go in there, I've got the boxes, and everybody recognizes them. I'm treated like one of them; I'm part of the community."
She took the reins from Ken McLeod, who also ran the depot for about a decade, and who set up the system of sorting boxes by street, apartment building and unit number, complete with a map highlighting the area they're responsible for.
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By the third weekend, the depot is focused on the final push to reach families who weren't home during previous delivery attempts.
Last year, Chandler was trying to get into one building on the final Sunday before any undelivered boxes are picked up and returned, but the phone number she had for the family was disconnected.
"My husband always drives, and I run into the buildings," she said. "Two men -- I think they were moving something -- let me in" after explaining it was a last chance to get gifts to the kids.
"They let me in, I go up. The door is slightly ajar, and when I knock and it opens, there are all these women. It's a baby shower.
"There was the matriarch sitting in the chair, and it's all women -- they say 'please come in, have something to eat' ... They were all just so friendly. I told them, 'I'm honoured, but my husband is waiting for me downstairs.'"
Between these encounters and the staff who run the Santa Claus Fund -- who make sure boxes get to families who aren't on the lists but who are in need and approach volunteers to be included -- "it's just the kindness that I've always encountered," Chandler said.
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Chandler is well known to volunteers at her depot for having chocolate, candy canes and small treats ready when they come back to reload.
"People come back ... the rapport is so amazing," she said. "We pick up where we left off, a year later."
While this year's Santa Claus Fund campaign is winding down, donations are still being gratefully accepted, to ensure thousands of kids receive a box of joy and happiness next year.
The Toronto Star Santa Claus Fund
With your gift, the Santa Claus Fund can help provide holiday gift boxes that inspire hope and joy to 50,000 financially vulnerable kids.
GOAL: $1.5 million
How to donate:
Online: To donate by Visa, Mastercard or Amex, use our secure form at thestar.com/scf
By cheque: Mail to the Toronto Star Santa Claus Fund, 8 Spadina Ave., Toronto, ON M5V 0S8
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By phone: Call 647-250-8282
Tax receipts will be issued.
To volunteer:
Email scfvolunteer@thestar.ca
Follow us on social:
Instagram: @torontostarchildrenscharities
Facebook: @thetorontostarchildrenscharities
X: @TStarCharities
LinkedIn: the Toronto Star Children's Charities
TikTok: @torstarchildrenscharity
Bluesky: @tstarcharities.bsky.social
#StarSantaClausFund