Former editor keeps on giving back
Delivering gift boxes is an ‘uplifting’ experience and a worthwhile cause
John King takes the term “giving back” and brings it home, literally.
Aformer editor at the Toronto Star, King is prepping for his annual visit to the depot where the Star’s Santa Claus Fund marshals efforts to deliver tens of thousands of gift boxes to kids and families facing tough times at Christmas.
For King, the Star was his second home, the place where he spent eight years an editor in the business and entertainment departments. He’d answer the call, too, to help out in sports, where the Proudfoot Corner is up and running again in its efforts to reach the goal of raising $1.7 million by Christmas Eve.
King donates yearly, something he’s been doing since 2001. His son, Jamie, turned 8 then, and the inspiration has remained the same ever since.
“I do it every year, and I’m preparing to help out at the depot this year again,” said King, 68, who is also a leader with the Boy Scouts, an organization that helps with delivery of the gift boxes.
“Every time, the smile you bring to someone’s face, every time you drop that gift off, it’s so uplifting,” King said. “People are sometimes reluctant to answer the door, then they see you and a frown turns into a smile.
“I leave every day I deliver the presents feeling good, so I do it every year, and I know the money goes to a good cause. The Star pays for all the administrative costs, so this is a good investment in a charity because all the funds go to the cause, not to help administrative costs.”
The Star delivers some 46,000 boxes around the GTA and it takes a small army of volunteers to deliver them. It takes an even greater army to dig in and help the Fund meets its donation goals.
But for 113 years now, folks from across the city, the province, the country — and even across the oceans — have chipped in for the cause.
The cause is kids, and they get a gift box stuffed with clothing items, food items and other useful things. For instance, a pair of mittens — something most people have and perhaps take for granted. But when the weather’s cold — and it’s been cold so far this winter — mittens can be one of the things that gets a kid off to a good start at school with one less thing to worry about.
It’s the little things that help, including donations and volunteering. King grew to understand that, starting with the fact his household “always had presents at Christmas time. I was lucky.”
With that in mind, King began helping with the Scouts, and kept up his donation and volunteer efforts with the Star’s Santa Fund.
As luck would have it, King began his journalism career with stints at the Globe and Mail and CBC.
Over a 34-year period, he served as the Globe’s bureau chief in Ottawa and Washington, a night city editor, national editor, executive editor of the Report on Business, and then deputy managing editor. Ultimately, his career path led to the Star in 2005.
Now 68, he’s retired from his desk. But things like the Proudfoot Corner and Scouts remain a focus.
When it’s winter, King’s troop meets at the Roncesvalles United Church, but when it’s warm out, meetings take on a change of scenery. King and his troop move to the National Yacht Club, where they sail a former Royal Canadian Navy whale boat.
The boat is authentic and the troop performs re-enactments of the War of 1812.
King’s son also took part in Scout activities, as well as joining his father on delivery days for the Fund.
“When (Jamie) was a teen, he did the deliveries with me until he went out of town to university,” King said. “He acknowledges from time to time how the things he’s learned from delivering the presents, and from the Scouts, are important to him.”
The Proudfoot Corner welcomes all kinds of stories, because no matter where they come from, or how different they are, the central theme is helping out kids at Christmas.
The Proudfoot Corner was started by former sports editor Dave Perkins, who inherited the Corner from former editor and famed Star columnist Jim Proudfoot after Proudfoot passed away in 2001.
Proudfoot carried on a legacy he inherited from one of the all-time greats — Milt Dunnell. And Dunnell — who began as sports editor in 1949 and was one of the few journalists in the world who would get a call back from legendary boxer Muhammad Ali — was carrying on a long-standing tradition. It was called the Sportsman’s Corner back in the day. Around the Corner: John Gelmon, who sends $150 in memory of Star news editor Joseph N. Gelmon … Edgar Goodaire of Niagara Falls, who sends $50 … Bill and Carol Creber have $100, in memory of Mort Greenberg, the awesome Mort, who passed away earlier this year and rounded up donations for the Proudfoot Corner for decades … Brian Drake also remembers Mort with $25, make that Mort and “Chester,” as Proudfoot was affectionately called … An anonymous donation of $200 comes in memory of Tony, Vito and Mario Marchese — “delivery elves” … Ed Ludlow of Whitby sends $50 in memory of The Shadow … Etobicoke’s John Burnet sends $200 … Craig Gibson of Thornhill has $100 in memory of Sevia Gibson … Eric Gorbell of Hillsdale has $25 in memory of Diane Madeline Gorbell … Ian Dewar of Toronto has $100 in memory of Gerry McKenzie … Joe Roche of Scarborough has $150 … here’s the Weir Family of Toronto — Glenn and Denise — with $250 … Irene June Wethers of Georgetown has $50 in memory of Traci Allen … Rick and Lorraine Matsumoto have $200, and yes, that’s our famous Rick, the former sports writer who chronicled the Argos and Leafs and who was a pretty good shinny player … Robert Gibson of Toronto has $25 in memory of Mary P. Gibson … Weston’s Elizabeth Roden sends $50 … William M. Reid of London sends $100 with the tag “ANONYMOUS — just call “The Retired Mailman” … Toronto’s Joan Elise De Mercadohas $30 … Michael J. Duggan of Mississauga comes in with $50, and with an awesome challenge: “As a former OHA referee, I challenge all the hockey officials to support his (Proudfoot) fund by donating a game fee. Best of luck and thanks for continuing Jim Proudfoot’s legacy” … John Redshaw of Little Britain has $200 in memory of Sandy Redshaw … The Old Fart Poker Club of Scarborough sent in $375 with this tag: “The Old Farts Poker Club passed the hat again and came up with $375 for the kids, in memory of five deceased members Bruce Milne, Carl ( Buck) McConnachie, Ron Sabourin, Len Hall and Vern Sabourin.” … Edna and James Fitzgerald of Scarborough send $100 with this: “Once again, it’s nice to open the Toronto Star’s sports pages at this time of year and see Chester’s Sportsmen’s Corner still going strong for the kids. For this I thank The Star, and I think he’d be proud also. And once again in memory of an old boyhood friend and Argo buddy Doug Robertson, who passed much too young 22 years ago.”