Special Thanks for the 11th Annual Toys for Tots

The Archway Toys for Tots Christmas Breakfast presented by Clarion Hotel was another wonderful year of seeing the community respond with care for children in need at Christmas. We are happy to announce that together we raised $52,500 and 2,400 toys for Archway Christmas Bureau.

This was the 11th annual event and the 55th year that we have been able to provide gifts to those in need because of the generosity of our community.

More than 1,500 attendees enjoyed the delicious buffet breakfast, local live entertainment, a photo with Santa, and an enchanted visit from a princess.

The success of this event would not have been possible without the support from our sponsors. We would like to thank first and foremost, Clarion Hotel & Conference Centre for hosting a wonderful community event and the graciousness of the staff who warmly served our community. Special thanks to the chef Jonathan Stewart who put in extra time and care into the buffet, Catlin Dumond who ensured everything came together as planned and Daniel Laverick who has been involved since the very first breakfast in 2013!

Thank you to Envision Financial and Jag’s Furniture for their generous Platinum sponsorship of Toys for Tots Christmas Breakfast! Your continued enthusiasm has been an essential part of our mission to make the holiday season brighter for those in need. Envision Financial volunteers continue to attend the event to spread joy and hope for a brighter holiday season year after year.

We are extremely thankful for all of the promotion and coverage by Star 98.3 and 107.1 Country FM leading up to the event. The Abbotsford News was instrumental in spreading the event details to our community. Thank you also to Pattison Signs for sharing the event on your digital road sign.

We want to give a huge shout out to all those who shared and promoted Toys for Tots on social media. Your support is amazing! Together, we were able to share our excitement with the community!

Thanks to Sponsors

A huge thank you needs to go out to our brilliant event sponsors. Because of their support we were able to run a quality event that created a welcoming atmosphere for all who joined in to give back to the community. This event wouldn’t be possible without you.

We extend our heartfelt thanks to our Gold Reindeer Sponsors Elite Fire Protection Ltd, JMV Woodworks Ltd., Longboard Architectural Products, Ranj Takhar Real Estate Team, Medora Dental Care, Gulf and Fraser and Fraserway RV. We’re grateful for your support in making this holiday season extra special.

We are so appreciative of the Silver Snowflake Sponsors, including Assante Wealth Management, Varing Marketing Group, and Saxon Mechanical Limited for ensuring families in need have a holiday season filled with warmth, smiles, and hope. We couldn’t do it without you!

Thanks also to our Santa’s Sleigh Sponsors Prospera, Abbotsford Tech District and all of our friends at the Fraser Valley Auto Mall including Murray Kia Abbotsford, Abbotsford Hyundai, VIP Mazda, OpenRoad Toyota, MSA Ford, The Honda Way, Abbotsford Chrysler, Nissan, and Abbotsford Volkswagen. This sponsorship allowed those who couldn’t attend the event to still participate through drop off boxes all over Abbotsford.

Many of our sponsors went above and beyond – including gathering gifts from staff and their clients and spreading the word on social media.

One of the most exciting parts of the event was the entertainment lineup. We are so grateful for the talented entertainment found in our community! Thank you to Ryan McAllister for sharing his fine musical talent; MEI Chamber Singers for your enthusiastic delivery of classic Christmas Carols; MEI Screaming Eagles for rocking the event with your amazing choreographed marching band; Mikey the Juggling Elf; Abby Middle School All Stars for rocking the ballroom with their talented band and singers; and to A Little Moore Magic Company for providing the princess who inspired many young monarchs in waiting.

A standing ovation goes to comedian emcee Cliff Prang for bringing laughter and warmth to our Toys for Tots event, making it an unforgettable celebration and keeping the morning running smoothly.

Of course, we can’t forget to thank Santa for generously sharing his time away from the North Pole as well as Josie from Langis Event Media for providing the photo booth for all of the amazing Santa photos! The Santa photos are available on the Abbotsford Food Bank’s Facebook page.

MEI Screaming Eagles Marching Band delivers an unforgettable performance

Event Partners

Thank you to Sharron and team from Starbucks of Whatcom for sending your coffee, hot chocolate, and amazing volunteers that made the toy drop off delicious. Panago’s donation of pizza and free pizza coupons helped fuel our team of volunteers.

A generous thank you to our Food Sponsors who filled the Toys for Tots breakfast buffet with mouth-watering delights: Clarion Hotel, Neufeld Farms, Sysco, and Vanderpol Eggs.

The Canucks donated door prizes and will host the Teddy Bear toss at an upcoming game to help collect even more toys. The Annual Holiday Toy Drive organized by Jasmit Singh Phulka and partnered with Rajin Gill & Gurbaj Gill brought in a Santa-sleigh-full of toys.

Cheers to Mitchell Styba Productions for providing the audio and visual set up for the event as Global Conventions for providing the magnificent red carpet and stanchions.

The event would not have looked so lovely without the décor expertise of Valley Weddings – thank you for providing the perfect back drop for our Santa photos. And thank you to our photographer Dale Klippenstein for capturing all the memories.

We’re grateful to Competitive Edge for keeping our volunteers looking spiffy in their t-shirts.

Last but certainly not the least, we were blown away by the support and commitment of the volunteers from Paramedics of BC Emergency Health Services, Abbotsford Firefighters of Local 2864, Envision Financial, Archway Food Bank, Archway Community Services, Abbotsford Police, UFV Women’s Soccer Team, Abbotsford Minor Hockey U13 A1 Team, Abbotsford Hawks U13 A2 Team and members of the community who pitched in to help! Your ability to greet guests with enthusiasm, direct traffic, run toys, and help with clean-up was so valuable to the success of the event!

A whole-hearted thank you to Connie Hackett who captured amazing social media content during the event, to event coordinator Sarah Bolton of Bolton Events for orchestrating a day of joy and generosity, and to Kourtnie Sohl, the amazing volunteer coordinator for her tireless efforts in making this event a success!

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