The annual Toy Mountain campaign is underway, hoping to provide every child in Ottawa with a new toy for Christmas.
The partnership between CTV Ottawa, Majic 100 and the Salvation Army comes at a time when a record 16,000 area kids are in need.
“This man has a two-year-old daughter, he had bought specifically that dancing Elmo toy and he very sadly had to return it to the store,” said Michael Maidment of the Salvation Army.
“When he came to Toy Mountain though, we gave him a bag of toys and wished him a merry Christmas, he looked in the bag and there was the dancing Elmo toy that his two-year-old daughter wanted.
“That's really the power of Toy Mountain, which was a complete fluke."
The trademark red pyramids aren’t in malls this year; instead you can drop off an unwrapped toy for a child under 12 (or cash) at various TD Canada Trust locations or at 87 George Street.
“There is a group of kids that has sort of fallen through the cracks over the past couple of years,” said CTV Ottawa’s Carol Anne Meehan. “Their gift requires something a bit more expensive.”
“Because of the generosity of the people of Ottawa, because of Majic 100’s Toy Mountain and CTV, these kids are waking up like every other kid in the city with a big smile, a lot of excitement, tearing off the paper and finding that doll house or Tonka truck,” said Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson.
With a report from CTV Ottawa’s Katie Griffin
