Toronto Star

Pubdate:December 12, 1991

Page: A20

Section:NEWS

Edition:FIN

Length:639

'I can't give a lot of money but I can give time, effort'

Byline/Source: By Barbara Turnbull Toronto Star

Photo Caption: 2 Star photos: (Gower): Maggie Saunders, Minnie Nicholson and Inez Reed with gift boxes; (Beaty) Gene Domagala with gift boxes

  For about 25 years Minnie, Maggie and Inez have been spending
December busily preparing for Christmas.
  Not just their own Christmas, but that of thousands of other
people who receive gift boxes from The Star Santa Claus Fund.
  The three are part of an army of volunteers who make it
possible for The Star to distribute 35,000 gift boxes to needy
children in Metro.
  "It just makes our Christmas," said Inez Reed who, before
retiring, would take two weeks of vacation every December to
help co-ordinate the distribution of boxes in Regent Park
through St. Bartholomew's Church.
  "I've always found I can't give a lot of money, but I can give
my time and my effort," she said.
  The three buddies will do it "as long as we're able," Reed
said, adding that, at 64, the effort is somewhat taxing.
  "It's a lot of hours and you're tired, but it's a good tired,"
she said.
  Reed said the enjoyment they receive from seeing the happy
faces of recipients is all the payment she needs - a sentiment
echoed by Henrie Condie.
  "It's a wonderful experience," said Condie, who has organized
the delivery in Riverdale for the Kiwanis Club since he retired
eight years ago.
  Recent immigrants sometimes can't believe there's a stranger
on their doorstep with presents for their children, Condie said.
  "It really is quite emotional sometimes, the way it's
received," he said. "It just gives us a very good feeling with
Christmas coming up."
  The volunteers may insist they're getting as much as they're
giving, but not according to Rose Cudney, Santa Claus Fund
administrator who oversees the entire program.
  "Without the volunteers we couldn't get the boxes to the
children," said Cudney, adding that most families don't have
cars and would be unable to pick up the packages themselves.
  "The delivery program is very essential to the drive," she
said.
  The boxes are put together and dropped off by Star employees.
The volunteers must sort through them all, then deliver them to
the homes of people who have applied for the boxes.
  They are often short of helpers and end up doing much more
than their fair share.
  Robbie Engel, co-ordinator of one of the Boy Scouts groups
that delivers in the downtown core, says the boys learn valuable
lessons about the spirit of giving.
  "They (learn) that they are part of the community and not all
the community is as privileged as they are," Engel said.
  "Most of these kids don't even know how the other side lives,"
he added.
  For the boys, who are between 11 and 18 years old, delivering
the packages is a way of beginning to share with people who have
less, Engel said.
  "They share their time and, later on in life, their
resources."
  Gene Domagala has helped deliver Santa Fund packages for 31
years, since he was 20 years old. Now he delivers parcels in the
Parkdale area with the help of his children.
  "It's not only the Christmas spirit," he said. "Something
motivates you.
  "When you see people who are really in need, it's very
gratifying."
  Domagala said volunteering is something his family has always
done.
  "It's the spirit I was brought up in and it's the spirit I'll
die in."
  The Star has set a goal this year of $850,000 to cover the
cost of the gift boxes, which each contain a sweater, mittens
and warm hat. Youngsters 13 and 14 receive $25 certificates to
choose their own gifts.
  Cudney said donations are coming in slowly and the fund is
almost $200,000 short of its goal.
  Readers are asked to send their cheques to The Star Santa
Claus Fund, One Yonge St., Toronto, Ont., M5E 1E6. Donors will
be listed in The Star unless they ask to remain anonymous. All
donors will receive a tax receipt.
 

charitable giving holiday