Community Generosity Shines at Archway’s 12th Annual Toys for Tots Christmas Brunch

The Archway Toys for Tots Christmas Brunch presented by Clarion Hotel celebrated another successful year, showcasing the community’s generosity towards children and seniors in need during the holiday season. We are pleased to announce that the event raised $50,000 and collected 2,355 toys for the Archway Christmas Bureau!

Over 1,300 guests attended the 12th annual free, family event and enjoyed a delightful buffet brunch, live local entertainment, and photos with Santa.

The event’s success was made possible by the support of community sponsors. We extend our heartfelt gratitude to Clarion Hotel & Conference Centre for hosting this wonderful community event and to their staff for their warm hospitality. Special thanks to Chef Jonathan Stewart for his exceptional buffet, Katie Dieleman for ensuring everything ran smoothly, and Daniel Laverick for his continued involvement since the event’s inception in 2013.

We are grateful to Varing Marketing Group, Envision Financial and Jag’s Furniture for their Platinum sponsorship. Their ongoing enthusiasm is vital to our mission of brightening the holiday season for those in need.

We are immensely grateful for the promotion and coverage by Star 98.3 and 107.1 Country FM, and for The Abbotsford News’ role in spreading event details. Thank you to Pattison Signs for featuring the event on your digital road signs. We also appreciate everyone who shared and promoted Toys for Tots on social media, helping us spread excitement throughout the community.

Thanks to Sponsors

A special thank you to our event sponsors, whose support enabled us to host a successful event that welcomed all participants. We extend our thanks to our Gold Reindeer Sponsors: Elite Fire Protection Ltd, JMV Woodworks Ltd., Longboard Architectural Products, RM Real Estate, and Curtis Tire. Your support made this holiday season extra special.

Thank you to our Kid’s Corner sponsor, DME Investments Inc., for making the holidays brighter for everyone!

A huge thank you to Gulf & Fraser for being the entertainment sponsor and helping us bring joy and festive cheer to families in our community.

We are also grateful to our Silver Snowflake Sponsors: Assante Wealth Management, Abbotsford Canucks, and Saxon Mechanical Limited, for ensuring families in need have a holiday season filled with warmth and hope. Additionally, we thank our Santa’s Sleigh Barrel sponsors: River City Marine and Auguston Town Developments. Their sponsorship allowed broader community participation through drop-off boxes across Abbotsford.

The event featured an exciting entertainment lineup, showcasing local talent. We thank Ryan McAllister, the Joy Vox Community Choir, Cambree Lovesy, the Abby Senior Drumline, the Abby Middle Rock Band, Oui Entertain, and A Little Moore Magic Company for their performances. A special thanks to comedian emcee Cliff Prang for his humor and warmth, making the event unforgettable.

We also thank Santa for his time and Josie from Langis Event Media for the photo booth. Santa photos are available on the Abbotsford Food Bank’s Facebook page.

Event Partners

We appreciate Panago for their pizza donations and coupons.

We are also incredibly grateful to our amazing product sponsors for making the brunch buffet a mouth-watering feast: Vanderpol Eggs (eggs), Heppell’s Potatoes and Lepp Farm Market (potatoes), Neufeld Farms (sausages), Taves Farm (apples), Grimms Direct Plus (back bacon), DME Investments Inc (coffee and donuts), and BC Dairy (coffee and milk).

The Annual Holiday Toy Drive, organized by Jasmit Singh Phulka and partnered with Rajin Gill, brought in a sleigh-full of toys. Thanks to Mitchell Styba Productions for the audio-visual setup and Global Convention Service for the red carpet and stanchions. Valley Weddings provided beautiful décor, and Dale Klippenstein captured the event’s memories.

Jasmit Singh Phulka and Rajin Gillat, organizers for the Annual Holiday Toy Drive

We are deeply grateful for volunteer coordinator, Kourtnie Sohl, who organized more than 70 volunteers to help with event setup and take-down. Volunteers included representatives from sponsoring organizations Envision Financial, Varing Marketing Group, McDonald’s, and Gulf and Fraser.

Also helping at the event were the UFV Women’s Soccer, U13 Abby Hawks, U15 A1 AMHA Hockey teams, Abbotsford Firefighters, Abbotsford Police Department and Abbotsford Paramedics.

A special thank you to Connie Hackett for capturing social media content and event coordinator Sarah Bolton of Bolton Events for orchestrating the day and donating some of her event décor.

From all of us at the Archway Food Bank and Christmas Bureau, thank you for coming together to bring hope and joy to families, children, and seniors in our community.

DME Investments (McDonald’s) team volunteering at Toys for Tots