by Judy Littau,
Royal LePage Team Realty
Royal LePage Team Realty is building a Mountain of Toys again this Christmas, in support of local children. We have been the drop off point for the toys for more than 15 years. Harry Pratt and I decided to name it Mountain of Toys, as Ottawa’s collection is Toy Mountain – we wanted to be similar but different. The toys stay local, and are given to the Salvation Army. Pre-covid, we picked up toys during the Santa Claus Parade, had a kick off night at the 73’s hockey game, and had a drop off at our office. This year, we have a drop off at the office, and we also had a drop off location during the parade on Saturday. Toys can be dropped off until December 17. Here’s hoping next year we can safely go back to collecting along the parade route and do our kick off at a 73’s game.
We are also doing a charity BBQ at our office this year – covid safety rules followed. Again, this was started over 15 years ago. Sitting at a summer OPP BBQ, we thought it would be neat to do a Christmas BBQ and give the money raised to local food banks.
The year pre-covid we moved from the OPP station to the Fire Hall, where we collected toys, food, and cash. It was really a fantastic location, and we’re hoping to be back there next year. But, for this year, we thought we could do it safely outside our new office. No place to sit in the warmth and to enjoy your burger or hotdog, but we will have things set up so you can take to go, or stand outside and visit while you eat. Santa and Mrs. Claus will be on hand, naturally.
The BBQ is at the Royal LePage office on Prescott Street (the old Scotiabank building), and takes place on Thursday, December 2, between 11.30 am and 1 pm. All proceeds go to our local food banks.
