As the holidays creep ever-nearer, numerous toy-drives and charitable causes are getting underway throughout Greater Victoria.
Virgin Radio’s Toy Mountain is just one such endeavour and it is already garnering a lot of success from its new location at Uptown.
This year marks Virgin’s fifth Toy Mountain which seeks to amass as many gifts for all ages as humanly possible within the confines of the former Good Earth Uptown location, where the radio station has set up shop for the week.
The station broadcasts every show live from Uptown from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. and welcomes donors into the space to add their gifts to the already building mountain of toys.
Victoria Buzz sat down with Bailey Parker and Johnny Novak, hosts of Virgin Mornings to enquire how the fundraiser is going and what it means to them.
“I love it, it’s my favourite part of the year,” exclaimed Parker.
“We get a lot of parents and their kids stopping by saying, ‘we listen to you every morning,’ so it’s really nice to get out in the community and connect with our listeners.”
Novak says that although they are already accumulating quite a few gifts, presents for the 13 to 17-year-old age range are always the ones that they need the most.
“It’s a problem we have every single year, is getting stuff for teens,” he explained.
“Things like makeup, art supplies, stationary like, journals and notebooks and stuff like that, another one is just gift cards — giving the gift of shopping or independence.”
He suggests even buying a gift card to Uptown itself, as it can be used at any business at the shopping centre.
To make matters sweeter for those hoping to drop some gifts off at Toy Mountain’s Uptown donation drop-off, Virgin Radio Victoria has teamed up with Crust Bakery and Starbucks.
On Friday, December 1st, anyone who drops off a gift, cash or a gift card, will receive a drink and a treat from Starbucks and Crust who will be set up in the roundabout in front of Best Buy.
Treats and coffee will only be available from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m., courtesy of Uptown.
Anyone unsure of what might be a good gift for the kids who will benefit from Toy Mountain can refer to the age-specific gift guides online.
Virgin’s Toy Mountain is actually just one aspect of what Parker called a, “Russian nesting doll of charities,” going on at Uptown, because another CFAX Santas Anonymous charity, the Tree of Wishes, is set up inside the newly opened Toys “R” Us.
The Tree of Wishes charity in which parents can ask for a specific gift for their children, to ensure they have something to open up on Christmas Day. That wish is then written on an ornament and hung on a tree at one of several shopping centres in Greater Victoria.
Shoppers who have money to spare can choose a wish from the Tree of Wishes, go out and buy that item then drop it back off to help a child’s wish come true.
CFAX Santas Anonymous itself is actually an independent non-profit organization that operates as a child-focussed charity year-round.
All the money and toys that get donated to Virgin Radio’s Toy Mountain is then funnelled into the same pool as CFAX Santas Anonymous and it all goes towards making sure kids in Greater Victoria receive something on Christmas.
CFAX itself also raises money for the charity by holding their annual ‘Miracle on Broad Street Radiothon.’
This year on Friday, December 8th, they will set up for a day-long broadcast and open the studio’s doors to the public in hopes of raising money for the charity.
Related:
- 24 ‘Elf on the Shelf’ ideas for Victorians to try this holiday season
- 15 festive things to do in and around Victoria to inspire holiday spirit
Virgin’s Toy mountain along with the Tree of Wishes and CFAX Santas Anonymous are just a few facets of the myriad of charitable organizations that try to make the holidays as enjoyable as possible for all Victorians.
The Zone @ 91-3 also does a massive toy drive which is similar to Virgin’s Toy Mountain. They will be setting up shop at the Mayfair Shopping Centre parking lot on December 8th.
They will be similarly broadcasting live and accepting cash donations, toys for babies, teens and everyone in between, as well as gift cards.
The Zone has also set up some donation bins at select Peninsula Co-op gas stations
100.3 The Q! will be setting up shop in the Mayfair Shopping Centre parking lot on Friday, December 1st collecting food donations, cash and cheques for the several food banks throughout Greater Victoria. They will be broadcasting their morning show from that location.
