With many events cancelled and toy donations down, we need your help more than ever! Giving every family the opportunity to experience the joy of Christmas is the goal of the Abbotsford Archway Christmas Bureau program – will you help to make that happen by donating a toy this year?

What is the Christmas Bureau?

In Abbotsford, the Christmas Bureau has two unique ways of helping families and seniors at Christmas.

The first way is by providing an opportunity to the community to directly interact with families and seniors in a COVID friendly way through sponsorship. This is where families and seniors requesting support over the holiday are matched with groups that wish to sponsor by providing temporary support. The support of the sponsor includes shopping for food and gifts for their matched family.

 

The second way the Christmas Bureau provides support is by ensuring those families and seniors who are not sponsored still have access to food and gifts. Though collections gathered by the community, the Christmas Bureau builds and distributes food hampers, as well as provides a toy room where families have the opportunity to shop for gifts their children.

How Can You Help This Year?

Some ways of helping, are by becoming a sponsor, donating gifts, food or money, volunteering and/or attending our Toys for Tots event on Nov 27. In a normal year, the Toys for Tots event would be hosting a large gathering of community members at the Clarion Hotel (formerly Quality Hotel), serving them breakfast, listening to entertainment, taking photos with Santa and collecting toys donated towards families receiving help through the Christmas Bureau.

 

With the restrictions of large gatherings this year, we will be hosting a drive thru drop off instead, where families or individuals can drive thru the Clarion Hotel parking lot on Nov 27 between 7-10am. Come drop of your toy or monetary donations and receive a treat bag to enjoy with your bubble. Every toy collected will be quarantined for 5 days before being distributed throughout December in the Christmas Bureau toy room.

SPONSOR A FAMILY OR SENIOR Toys for Tots Drive Thru

Top Needed Gifts

Our most needed gifts are always surrounding preteen and teenager gifts as we provide gifts in the toy room for children under 18.

History of the Christmas Bureau

The Christmas Bureau has been a part of the Archway Food Bank since 1968, providing 70 hampers to families in need in Abbotsford and has grown to helping 1,505 adults and 1,513 children in 2019. We see this number increasing in 2020 with the rising challenges individuals and families have seen this past year and we’d love to see you get involved with us!

Thank you so much for thinking of others at Christmas!