Chester, Mort and the spirit of giving
Legacy of generosity lives on with return of Santa Claus Fund
Jim and Mort are probably watching right about now.
They’re both gone, Jim Proudfoot and Mort Greenberg: the former a legendary sports columnist at the Star, and the latter a faithful, zealous pied piper of donations to the Proudfoot Corner of the Toronto Star Santa Claus Fund.
Their work was tireless and always timely. Every year when the Christmas fundraising began, Proudfoot would beat the drum for donations and acknowledge donors in his must-read columns under the heading Sportsman’s Corner — later renamed in his honour. He would keep track of all the names and dollars from far and wide and make the Corner a holiday tradition of its own.
This is the 113th year of the Santa Fund and its goal, as always, is to deliver 45,000 gift boxes to underprivileged children ages 12 and under across the GTA.
It’s a pretty neat box: The helpers down at the depot will fill it with a hat, warm shirt, mittens and socks. Kids will also find a book, a small toy and a cookie. For children under 4, there’s a toothbrush, more clothes, diapers, wipes, soap and other useful stuff.
Greenberg, who passed away in April, made raising cash for the Santa Fund his personal mission for decades. He’d tap into a network of friends dating back even before his days as a CBC camera operator in the 1960s and ’70s. When the work was done — and Mort had knocked on every door, phoned every number and chirped into every ear — he’d pay a visit to the Star newsroom at One Yonge Street with a whopping cheque and
some of his handmade Christmas cards.
The cards were simple and heartfelt — a hand-drawn image of Mort with a Santa hat on, with some friendly Ho-Ho-Ho reminder that this is the season of giving, especially for the kids.
Proudfoot — who inherited the Corner from another sportswriting legend, Milt Dunnell — died in 2001. Without Chester, as friends knew him, and Mort, there’s a hole in the heart of Proudfoot Corner, for sure. But the spirit of the Santa Fund has always been about many people pitching in to help any way they can, big or small, and that spirit continues with their legacies as inspiration.
With Proudfoot and Greenberg, it was always an entertaining time of year. They were occasionally brassy, but always committed to the cause. The end result, reaching the Santa Fund target, was all that really mattered. And when Star readers chip in to help reach that goal and brighten a child’s day at Christmas, that’s the most fun of all.
Dave Perkins, who picked up the Corner where Proudfoot left off, knows that very well. Perkins, who retired from the Star in 2013, was the logical successor — a top-flight sports columnist and no-nonsense journalist whose way with words was in a class by itself.
Like Proudfoot, he would take time each day to open every envelope, read the letters, organize the donations and mention donors in his columns for the Star. Some of those letters would come from people who grew up in much tougher times and truly valued the importance of helping those in need over the holidays. Many would share stories of receiving Santa Fund gift boxes in the past, and what it meant to them.
Perkins was touched by that — and he’d only mention it because it was important, even if it meant he’d end up sounding like a “sap.”
“I was fortunate enough to assume the job from Chester after his stroke, first temporarily and then permanently,” Perkins said. “He told me — sometimes warned me — about the regulars, the long-time contributors who in many cases had become friends of his. Over the years, some of them became friends of mine, too.
“And then there was Mort, a museum-quality human being who was the fund’s main man nearly every year. Jim told me I would inherit Mort and I figured out what he meant: phone calls, always with elaborate introductions and abrupt endings, would arrive regularly. So would a large sum of money, Mort having put the arm on his many regulars in behalf of his handful of charities.
“Sadly, Mort is gone now and while the Proudfoot Corner will surely continue and thrive, it will do so without the man who did more for it over six decades than anyone else. I expect plenty of cheques will arrive this year dedicated to Mort.”
And so, with the Santa Fund in full swing once again, the Proudfoot Corner is off and running, too, with the same goal: to help put smiles on children’s faces at Christmas.