Thunder Bay – COVID-19 Update – COVID-19 won’t knock down the annual Toys for the North. Once again the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Gardewine and North Star Air will deliver toys to remote First Nations communities this Christmas!
Thousands of donated new toys, basic needs items and more will arrive in Thunder Bay this week thanks to the Canadian Air Force military aircraft CC130 Hercules.
“We’ve had to change up the way we distribute the toys this year, due to the pandemic,” says Karen Matson, Director of Marketing & Community Relations at North Star Air, “Extra precautions are in place to ensure we prepare and deliver the toys in a safe manner. We won’t be traveling as a group to celebrate with the communities, which is disappointing, but at least we can get the toys delivered.”
The arrival of the Hercules in Thunder Bay starts the journey to the remote North.
Once the cargo is off-loaded from the Hercules in Thunder Bay, Gardewine Freight Delivery will then move the cargo to their local warehouse where volunteers will sort the goods by age per community. “We’re talking about thousands of toys that need to be sorted so that the next phase can continue as planned.” says Retired S/Sgt. Normand Roy of the RCMP, “PPE and safe distancing will be mandatory as we prepare the toys for delivery.”
Once sorted, the toys will then be transported by Gardewine to North Star Air bases in Red Lake and Pickle Lake where it will then be air transported to remote communities on Saturday December 12th via North Star Air’s flight network. You can follow the journey on North Star Air’s Facebook page.
https://www.facebook.com/northstarair
North Star Air is in it’s 6th year of partnership with the “O” Division Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) ‘Toys for the North’ charitable drive. The initiative has evolved over the 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 remote Northern Ontario communities.
