Red Apple Raises $9,284 In Annual Toy-Drive

Since 2016, Red Apple has been proud to partner with local charities to do their Together We Care Toy Drive which culminates with Fill-a-Sleigh Day. This year Fill-a-Sleigh Day fell on December 3rd with our local RCMP and Santa Claus himself throwing in their support. Their goal is to ensure that all children in the communities they do business in have something to look forward to on Christmas morning.

This year our own local Red Apple raised nearly $9,300 in toys, clothing and food donations going to the Chetwynd Christmas Bureau Society. Shirley Durau, committee member of Chetwynd Christmas Bureau Society was amazed at the outcome, “Erin and her staff did a tremendous job in promoting this year's toy drive. Bringing in Santa, the music and the excitement they all showed resulted in record breaking results.” And Shirley is right, from the RCMP vehicles out front with lights flashing and backs filled with toys, to the festive spirit on display inside it was a thrilling experience for all. Shirley was quick to thank the community for their support in this event stating, “The whole community helped make this possible.”

Erin Willard, Store Manager, had this to say about the experience, “Chetwynd Red Apple would like to thank the Chetwynd RCMP Detachment and Brian Gibson in particular, the community of Chetwynd for their generosity, The Pencil Box for their donated advertisement, and especially Santa for making the long trip to meet the kids and support our community. I would like to also thank my team here at Chetwynd Red Apple without whom none of this could have been accomplished!” Erin was ecstatic and humbled by the outpouring of support from our community, especially in tough economic times such as these. This was a sentiment echoed by Shirley from the Christmas Bureau as well when she pointed out that with inflation and interest rates at their highest levels in decades, people still found space in their budgets to help others in their community who may be a little less fortunate.

When asked what Erin planned to do for next year's event, she only gave a sly smile and said that we'd have to wait and see but rest assured that it only gets better from here! So, despite Erin thanking everybody for the support, we'd like to thank Erin for stepping up and making a difference!