Christmas means so much to a child. It’s a time of miracles, celebration, and wonder. But for many CityKidz families, it’s often a time of stress and dismay as tight budgets collide with children’s hopeful hearts.
You can make sure every child and every family feels the joy and magic of the Christmas season. With your support, faith, hope and love wil fill our kids’ homes, not tension or disappointment. You can help show every child that dreams can come true.
$50 will brighten a child’s Christmas with:
A thoughtfully selected, carefully wrapped and personally delivered gift
An invitation to attend one of our CityKidz Christmas parties
A tasty Christmas lunch at our CityKidz Saturday program
$50
Makes the season merry and bright for a CityKidz child.
$100
Delivers the Gift of Christmas to two CityKidz children.
$200
Brings faith, hope and love into the homes of four children this season.
Even more important than the toys, trinkets and food your donation will provide, your gift will show vulnerable children – and their families – that they are seen, known and loved during what is often a difficult time of year. Your gift will tell them that they matter and that someone is thinking of them.
“I know you told me to always ask if I needed something. And I wouldn’t unless I really did,” said Ashley, tears in her eyes. “I’m feeling desperate. I just don’t see how I can do it,” she continued, her voice wavering. “I can cover the food but there won’t be anything left for gifts. Can you help us?”
It was the week before Thanksgiving when Ashley came to us with her desperate plea. Christmas was over two months away but Ashley had already done the math, cut every corner in her budget, and still she could see the writing on the wall: she wouldn’t be able to put anything under the tree for her daughter, Faith.
We assured Ashley that we’d make sure Faith had plenty to open for Christmas and, thanks to the generous support of the CityKidz community, we were able to do just that.
*Names have been changed for privacy.
More Ways to Help
You can make this the happiest season for all Hamilton children.
Donate a Toy
Our Toy Drive runs from November 20 until December 15 at 6:00 pm.
However, we encourage you to drop off your gift as early as possible to help give our staff and volunteers time to select, wrap, and deliver the perfect gift to every child on our list in time for Christmas. We start delivering gifts on December 12, which means we need lots of toys before then in order to make all our kids’ Christmas wishes come true.
CityKidz accepts new, unwrapped toys for children ages 0 to 12. Not sure what to buy? Check out this list with our kids’ top toy requests.
You can also drop off your donation at one of our 9 official Drop-Off Locations across the city during their regular business hours.
Host a Toy Drive
Get together with your family, friends, or coworkers to harness the generosity of your community to make Christmas wishes come true for dozens of children.
Contact Lee Medic by email or call 905-544-3996 ext. 233 and she’ll be happy to answer all your questions and help you get started!
Thank you to our 2023
Gift of Christmas Supporters and Route Sponsors!
Official Partner
Sponsors
Route Sponsors
Aldershot Depot
Jack & Cathy Scholtens
Rob Snyder & Suzanne Strongman
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes! Check out our Top Toys Wishlist for the most in-demand toys. We also receive the fewest toy donations for kids ages 10-12. Please consider donating a new, unwrapped gift for them this season, or donate now and we’ll make sure to get something special for a child in that age group.
All toy donations – both big and small – are greatly appreciated and will brighten a child’s Christmas! However, if you are debating between donating one ‘big ticket’ item from our list of most-requested toys (like a skateboard) or a few smaller items, we encourage you to donate the bigger item as we receive the fewest of these in-demand toys.
CityKidz is unable to accept food, clothing, and household donations. However, Mission Services, Children’s Aid Society, Good Shepherd Centre and Salvation Army are all great local organizations that would happily accept these donations.
We can provide tax receipts for all donations $10 and over as long as you provide your full contact information and original proof of purchase (receipt).
Unfortunately, we are not able to offer tax receipts for toy donations made at our drop-off locations. We are only able to offer tax receipts for toy donations made directly at CityKidz.
It’s our top priority to make sure that your donations go to kids in our community, just as you intended. Any leftover toys go to good use! Throughout the year, every CityKidz child receives a gift for their birthday. The leftover Christmas toys go towards birthday gifts so that we can keep giving all year long!
Toys are also used to seed next year’s gift of Christmas campaign. We need to start wrapping and delivering gifts long before enough new donations come in. By having gifts in stock from the previous year, we are able to get a head start and make sure we have time to choose, wrap, and deliver gifts to all our children!
Finally, there are a number of other wonderful charitable organizations that are helping children in our community at Christmas time too. If we have collected enough toys to support all of our kids, then we share with other organizations who are still in need.
Any financial donations that are designated for Christmas are used to fund our Gift of Christmas campaign. Even though we receive many donated toys, we often fall short on certain toys and gifts for certain age groups and need to purchase them. There are several other expenses that go along with the campaign including a Christmas meal and parties for all our kids.
If financial donations exceed the campaign goal, funds will be directed to the next greatest need at CityKidz.
Volunteers Transform Lives
Whatever your time, whatever your talents, you can make a transformative difference in a child’s life.
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Inspire Big Dreams
Help us build strong foundations of faith, hope and love into children’s lives and watch them thrive.