HUNDREDS OF TOYS DONATED

Christmas morning will be extra special for hundreds of children in the Central Okanagan this year, thanks to donations collected at the annual Tiny Tim Breakfast Thursday morning.

In total, a record 1,355 toys were collected for the Salvation Army at the event held at the Coast Capri Hotel, along with $2,189 in cash donations.

“This community is so, so generous,” Kelowna Salvation Army Pastor Kim Burry said Thursday morning.

The gifts and donations will go to hundreds of local families this Christmas.

More than 400 families have registered to collect toys from the Salvation Army Central Okanagan so far, and there is still an opportunity for a lastchance registration this week.

“We’re going to have hundreds of families that are going to be able to come in here and select toys for their children to be able to place under the tree for Christmas morning,” said Kelowna Salvation Army Pastor Darryl Burry.

Last year, the Salvation Army provided food and gifts to nearly 600 families in the Central Okanagan, including more than 1,100 children.

That was a 13 per cent increase over Christmas 2016.

“We recognize there are a lot of challenges and a lot of great causes in this community, and each and every year the community entrusts us to be able to support families, and we’re so thankful,” said Darryl.

Many parents are working but are struggling to get by, let alone purchase gifts for Christmas, he said.

“To be able to come here and say, ‘I need a little bit of help in this season,’ can be a very difficult thing to have to do,” said Darryl. “But when they do, we’re here to provide a bit of hope.”

Toys, games and clothes for everyone from babies to teens now line the shelves in the warehouse at the Kelowna Community Church.

“We want to make sure every child 18 years and younger receives something,” said Burry.

ANDREA PEACOCK/The Daily Courier Kelowna Salvation Army Pastor Kim Burry holds a stuffed sloth inside the Kelowna Community Church. The Salvation Army collected more than 1,300 toys and more than $2,000 in cash for local families at its annual toy drive Thursday morning.

ANDREA PEACOCK/The Daily Courier Salvation Army volunteer Rebekah Kintzinger, left, and Jamie Johnstone, a Salvation Army case worker, receive bags of toys from Sleep Country employee Lance Sali Thursday morning. The Salvation Army collected more than 1,300 toys and more than $2,000 in cash for local families at its annual toy drive.