Thunder Bay ON – Once again this December, the RCMP, Gardewine Group – Transportation and Logistics, and North Star Air will deliver toys to remote First Nations communities this Christmas!
Donated new toys, basic needs items, and more arrived in Thunder Bay via CAF military aircraft C-17 Globemaster this afternoon.
“We’re all praying for good weather on the leg to Thunder Bay” says Karen Matson, Marketing & Community Relations at North Star Air, “The general public will be quite impressed to see this aircraft in Thunder Bay, so keep your eyes on the skies!”
North Star Air’s team has been working with the “O” Division Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), participating in the ‘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 communities.
North Star Air has been a partner of the Toys for the North campaign for 7 of the 11 past years.
The arrival of the Globemaster in Thunder Bay is the first step of the journey to the North here in Ontario. The toys, along with other donated goods will be air delivered in the coming weeks to remote northern Ontario First Nations communities via North Star Air’s flight network.
“It’s an exciting time, knowing all this hard work will very soon bring smiles to many faces in the North.” continues Matson. “Once the cargo is debarked from the Globemaster in Thunder Bay on Thursday, Gardewine Group – Transportation and Logistics will then move the cargo to their local warehouse where volunteers will sort the goods by age and gender per community the following week”.
“We’re talking about thousands of toys that need to be sorted so that the next phase can continue as planned.” says Cpl. Stacy Morton of the RCMP. “We’ve targeted four recipient communities this year.” The goods will then be transported by Gardewine Group – Transportation and Logistics to the North Star Air hangar in Pickle Lake where they will be loaded onto the Basler DC3 aircraft for their remote First Nation destinations.
Representatives from North Star Air, the media and our very special guest Santa Claus will bring joy to so many young people of the North thanks to the efforts of the RCMP and the network of donators.
You can follow our journey north with Toys for the North and Santa on our North Star Air Facebook page.
