What’s in the box? Secrets of the Toronto Star Santa Claus Fund

I’ve been delivering Toronto Star Santa Claus fund parcels with my family for years, one link in a volunteer chain thousands long stretching back more than a century. We’re good at it, my elves (Kelly, Jack and Riley and the late Toby Ranger) and I. We often do the hard deliveries, presents that have already been returned because the family was not home. But in all these years I have never known what was in the happily decorated Star charity boxes, how they got in the box and how this well-oiled machine, fuelled by donors like you, works.

Until now.

Today, as the Star kicks off its 2022 campaign, I am going to take you inside the Santa Claus Fund. You’ll meet a few of the other links in the chain and get a sense of how it all works. One thing I have learned, having investigated charities for years, is that the best way to determine if a charity is worth your hard-earned dollars is to be able to “touch” what the charity does. The fundraising goal is $1.5 million. The Toronto Star covers all expenses, by the way. I think seeing what the Santa fund does will help readers decide to donate.

This year, with your help, we will distribute 50,000 cheerily wrapped gift boxes to underprivileged children across Toronto, Brampton, Mississauga, Ajax and Pickering for the holidays.

So, what’s in the box?

Wait! Settle down kids, we will get there. First, the charity itself. The fund was established by longtime Toronto Star publisher Joseph Atkinson in 1906, making this is our 116th anniversary. The concept is simple. It grew out of Atkinson’s own poverty as a youngster. When he was a little boy, his father died in an accident. Atkinson’s newly widowed mother had to feed, clothe, house and raise Joseph and his seven siblings on her own. One winter, long before he would become a publishing magnate, young Joseph was watching other children skate on a pond. He had no skates — there’s no way his mother could afford a pair. A lady saw him sitting on a snowbank and asked why he was not on the ice. When she heard the story, she bought him his first pair of skates for Christmas. That act of kindness inspired him to create a charity years later that would brighten children’s faces.

Our story begins the minute the previous campaign concludes in December. That’s when the charity works on existing, and sometimes new, partnerships with companies that provide, at a steep discount, the gifts that are packed in each box.

“We use our donor funds to purchase those gift box items so that we can ensure quality control, and we guarantee equity among all the recipients. We want every age category to receive the same gift box which we wouldn’t be able to do if we were counting on donated items,” says Stacey Carcao, executive director of The Star Charities, which also oversees the Fresh Air Fund. “We’ve got great partners and we are so grateful for them,” Carcao says. Partners this year are Colgate, Sobeys, Joe Fresh, Toys “R” Us and Scholastic Canada.

Boxes are prepared for different age groups, from babies up to age 12. For the book that’s included, for example, Scholastic Canada sends suggested titles from their catalogue. Then the charity picks what they think fits best for the various age groups.

Oh, also, everything has to fit in the same size box. The charity caps the cost to procure the item for a box at $35. But without the discount, the retail price would be $50 to $100.

The charity rents a 35,000-square-foot warehouse in Etobicoke. That’s where the items are sent and the packing begins. Mario Marchese knows all parts of the charity pretty well. He and his brothers, Vito and Tony, have been volunteering for more than 50 years.

The concept of charity came to their attention in the 1960s. A family of nine kids living in Little Italy in Toronto, poor, parents working hard to put food on the table. Mario and his brothers used to sneak into the Columbus Boys Club. There was a gym on the second floor, a ping-pong table, billiards, woodworking room and they showed movies on Friday nights. Membership: 10 cents. But the Marchese family had no spare pennies. One day, the manager of the club caught them. But he took pity on them and gifted them free memberships. Then he gave Mario 25 cents and asked him to go buy a quart of milk for the club. Mario returned with the milk and 5 cents change. The manager tried to give it to Mario, but Mario would not take it. He said, “Put it towards what we owe you.” The boss said, go spend it on something you need.

The manager had a sign in his office — The Other Guy. Years later Mario understood that was a call to arms.

A few years later, the Boys Club started delivering truckloads of Star Santa Fund boxes. They delivered across the city in the slush and snow of December.

“We were runners,” said Mario. “The trucks arrive, pull the boxes off the truck, put them in street order, then in numerical order. As runners, we would go to the club and an “old timer” would drive to the house, go to the trunk and get the boxes. Every Saturday and Sunday until those boxes were delivered.

“For us, Christmas was not Christmas until we delivered all those boxes,” said Mario, reflecting on decades of volunteering. This year, in addition to co-ordinating deliveries at one of the Santa Fund depots, Mario is now packing boxes too.

Tom Trottier, semi-retired from a career in high tech sales, has been packing boxes for several years. He previously did driving duties for the charity, getting involved initially at the suggestion of a good friend.

“It’s an assembly line,” said Trottier. “You reach for the multiple items and place them in the tissue in the right box. We do it by age group.

“We call it shopping,” he chuckled.

Let’s say they are doing the boxes for the 10-year-olds. Thousands are filled with the items for that age group, the lid goes on the box and then a machine puts the binding around them so nothing falls out during delivery. Then the data entry volunteers print out the labels, which include the name and number of a parent or guardian, the address, the first name of the child and the age of the child. If a family has a 5-year-old and a 9-year-old, those boxes are put together and bound so that the delivery “elves” have one group of parcels per home.

“I think it’s a really well-oiled, well-organized machine, this charity. The volunteers are nice, good to chat to. And I loved the delivering, the look on the kid’s faces at the door,” Trottier said. “This is neat for me because I get to see what goes into it.”

Where do the names come from? Roughly 100 social service agencies provide names of people who would like to receive a Santa Fund box. Here’s the explanation from one of the agencies, Access Alliance Multicultural Health and Community Services.

“Each year, during the fall, we reach out to our clients, forward flyers to the families, community members and networks,” says Keisha Cooke of Access Alliance.” On this flyer, there is a Google doc registration link that asks for email addresses, names and phone numbers. Then we connect with each client individually and collect the registration information required by Toronto Star Santa Claus Fund. We also receive walk-ins as well as emails through word-of-mouth from families requesting the SFB.”

The names from all of the agencies are input into a secure database which later spits out the labels for the boxes.

Sandra Pate is another volunteer. She co-ordinates deliveries at one of the Santa Fund depots. Pate was a claims manager for Walmart, but she was laid off. Now she fills her days volunteering while she looks for work. Pate is in charge of finding volunteers to deliver 4,000 boxers assigned to her particular depot, one of 30 the charity operates in space donated by landlords and businesses.

She’s grown her volunteer base from family and friends, and their family and friends. Social media has helped her reach out. “People get to come in and see what it’s all about. A lot of people are from that specific neighbourhood, and they bring their family and loved ones to distribute because you’re getting to give back first hand,” says Pate.

“It’s not like you are donating money and not seeing where it is going. You are actually knocking on doors and seeing it. And a lot of people delivering now, received gift boxes when they were young. They say, ‘Sandra, I want to give back to my area,’” said Pate.

Rose Waterman ran the Star charities for many years until her retirement. She was often the smiling face in a Santa hat my family saw on a Saturday morning when we showed up to do our deliveries. She is so happy that she spent the bulk of her career working at the Star’s charities. But she is left with one troubling thought.

“I regret that the need is still there,” says Waterman. “That’s the sad note.”

Torstar Publisher Jordan Bitove said the charity has as much emotional impact on those who give as it does on those who receive. “I am in awe of people’s stories, memories of their own difficult times or the realization of others’ needs, paired with the reward of being part of the Santa Claus Fund effort. Stories from our warehouse elves, our volunteers and donors — everyone is so attuned to know that they really are making a difference in the lives of these children.”

So, what really is in those boxes?

The box contents are gender-neutral and age-appropriate. Here is an example of two boxes.

The age four box this year has: a Toys “R” Us set of 4 jumbo playdough pots; Colgate Minions-themed toothbrush plus toothpaste; the Scholastic Canada book, “Take Me Out to the Ice Rink”; a Joe Fresh warm fleece trapper hat; a grey fleece mitten set; socks; a zip-up hoodie; and PC Organics Arrowroot pack.

The age 11 box has: a Toys “R” Us paint your own pet rock (either caterpillar, turtle, frog or fox); Colgate 2 in 1 Kids Strawberry toothpaste; a Scholastic Canada Dragon Master’s series book, either “Forest of the Stone Dragon” or “Howl of the Wind Dragon”; a Sobey’s Our Compliments apple or strawberry box of 8 cereal bars; Joe Fresh grey beanie and mitten set; socks; and a zip-up hoodie.

Oh, one final thing. The late Toby Ranger mentioned in this story refers to our dearly departed “elf” — our 12-year-old Australian Shepherd. This year, our family is delivering with Bowie, our new Aussie, who also likes to chew his “reindeer antlers.” See you at the door.

Please consider a donation, it really will put a smile on a kid’s face.

If you have been touched by the Santa Claus Fund or have a story to tell, please email santaclausfund@thestar.ca

Kevin Donovan is the Star’s chief investigative reporter. He can be reached at kdonovan@thestar.ca or 416-312-3503

GOAL: $1.5 million

How to donate

With your gift, you can help provide holiday gift boxes that inspire hope and joy to 50,000 underprivileged children.

Online: To donate by Visa, Mastercard or Amex, scan this QR code or use our secure form at thestar.com/santaclausfund

By cheque: Mail to the Toronto Star Santa Claus Fund, One Yonge St., Toronto, ON M5E 1E6

By phone: Call 416-869-4847

The Star does not authorize anyone to solicit on its behalf. Tax receipts will be issued.

To volunteer: scfvolunteer@thestar.ca