THUNDER BAY – Toys for the North is headed to seven communities in Northern Ontario. While the usual path for toys at this time of the year is from the north pole at Santa’s workshop, Toys for the North sees toys head north to make a brighter Christmas holiday for children across the north.
The program in Northern Ontario runs in partnership with the “O” Division of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), and North Star Air.
For the past three years, across Northern Ontario, North Star Air has has participated in the ‘Toys for the North’ toy drive. Toys are flown from the Thunder Bay International Airport to make sure children across the North have some extra smiles over the holiday season.
“Since our inception as an airline we have successfully grown and evolved to meet the changing and growing demands of Northern Ontario by becoming a vital link for the communities,” says Frank Kelner, President and CEO of North Star Air. “Of utmost importance to us is to build long and respectful relationships with First Nation communities and customers”.
“Our vision and role has grown beyond the services we offer, we invest back to the communities. We are proud and dedicated to play an active role in making a positive difference, particularly in sponsoring and supporting youth activities,” continued Kelner.
“Being a part of the Toys for the North program makes it worthwhile to see the smiles on the children’s faces, especially during this time of the holiday season.”
The entire project started in 2010 in partnership with the Canadian Toy Association and Thomson Terminals transportation. This initiative has evolved over the past five years to include a national network of RCMP, law enforcement, corporate and external partners who collectively contribute to the success of delivering new toys to children in our Northern communities.
Over the years, Toys for the North have made the holidays a little brighter by distributing over $420,000 worth of toys to children in Northern parts of Labrador, Manitoba, Nunavut, and Ontario.
This year’s toy delivery by RCMP detachment staff will take place in northern communities located in Newfoundland/Labrador and Ontario.
The toys will start their journey from Thunder Bay on Friday, December 16th 2016.
The communities this year are:
