A look at gifts collected during a previous year for Santa Anonymous . (Submitted Photo/Optimist Club of Prince Albert)

By Derek Craddock

GIVING BACK AT CHRISTMAS

Organizers say annual Christmas campaigns for less fortunate getting good response

Dec 9, 2023 | 8:00 AM

Two local initiatives to bring gifts and much-needed winter clothes to the less fortunate in Prince Albert are moving along well, according to organizers.

The annual Santa’s Anonymous drive and Wrapped Up For the Holidays started recently and are running until Dec. 23.

This year marks the 17^th of the Wrapped Up For the Holidays campaign put on by Parkland Ambulance. Lyle Karasiuk with Parkland said they’ve started to see a steady stream of items being brought to Gateway Mall and their headquarters.

“We are just so grateful to receive what we usually get,” he said. “We average anywhere between 500 and maybe 800 items annually, and that’s boots, coats, pairs of mittens, those sorts of things.”

Meanwhile, The Optimist Club of Prince Albert is once again running the Santa’s Anonymous program this year and has several mini houses set up at businesses across Prince Albert including Wal-Mart, Canadian Tire, Superstore, and the Winter Wonderland inside Gateway Mall.

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The Optimist Club will also be hosting its Santa’s Anonymous Night during the Prince Albert Raiders game on Dec. 12.

Vice President of the club Dave Markling said so far, they’ve received a good number of toys.

“The first week is always a little slower, but as people start to see it out there more, then it picks up quite a bit,” he said.

Santa’s Anonymous accepts new, unwrapped toys for kids from newborn to 16. Markling noted that the 10-16 age group is the most needed for toys as they usually get plenty for younger kids.

He added that at least 500 kids have registered to receive a toy from Santa’s Anonymous but that number could rise.

“I recall last year I think I think it was close to 800 last year,” Markling said. “I imagine it will probably be up there this year again.”

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derek.craddock@pattisonmedia.com