The true spirit of Christmas
Generous locals bombard our office with gifts galore
As the Advertiser’s Christmas Toy Appeal came to an end last week, we were stunned by some truly incredible gestures.
First up, was a whopping £1000 donation from JJ O’hara and his team at Starbucks Hamilton drivethru.
The branch left us absolutely speechless with their gift card donation for the underprivileged teenagers of South Lanarkshire.
However, just as we were preparing to make the final arrangements for the toys getting distributed to the needy children on social work services’ list, we received a bumper £1000 donation of toys from an anonymous local couple, to add to the thousands of gifts already handed in.
We then received a call from the Octave singing group, based in Motherwell, who recently asked concertgoers to make a donation to our appeal, and in doing so raised a magnificent £1700 for the fund.
And to top it all off, Lanarkshire entrepreneur James Mortimer, in partnership with the Donna Ballantyne Mortimer Trust and Kilbryde Hospice in East Kilbride, donated a huge £10,000 worth of toys to the campaign – leaving us absolutely flabbergasted!
Mr Mortimer said: “I feel it is important to always support the town of Hamilton and indeed our local newspaper.
“I was only too happy to make this donation for the needy children of South Lanarkshire.”
Advertiser reporter Leona Greenan, who co-ordinates the appeal with The Salvation Army’s Hamilton branch, said: “We have had thousands of members of the public handing in gifts galore for disadvantaged children across South Lanarkshire.
“We have also received massive support from churches, businesses, community groups and more.
“We are quite literally gobsmacked at the level of generosity this year, and we cannot wait to tally up our final figures towards the end of this week.
“So be sure to pick up your copy of the Advertiser next week too to see how your donations made a difference to underprivileged families this Christmas.”
Advertiser editor Robert Mitchell added: “Again, we cannot thank everyone enough for all their support. It has been another bumper year so far!
“A special mention has to go to the Salvation Army’s Major Alex Mcnee and his team of volunteers and also to Robert Mckenna of Man & Van for his time with toy picks ups and drop offs.
“Without their help it wouldn’t have been possible.”