Christmas Bureau

November 25, 2022

Help Spread Joy this Holiday

’Tis the season of giving once again, and Abbotsford’s Christmas Bureau offers a few ways to support our neighbours over the holiday season.

 

One option is a direct sponsorship where sponsors are matched with a family or senior in the community. Sponsors are asked to provide food items from a set list and gifts for their matched family which they then deliver directly to their door They communicate ahead of time to find out their needs and the recipients enjoy the personalized gifts and food options.

Read More›
in Christmas Bureau / Featured / News 0 comments
November 21, 2022

Toys for Tots Event to Collect Gifts at Sunday Event

The 10th annual Toys for Tots event is being held this Sunday, November 27th at the Clarion Hotel and Conference Centre. The event collects toys and donations for the Christmas Bureau program of the Archway Food Bank.

Community members are invited to bring gifts and enjoy a free buffet breakfast along with entertainment at the drop-in event from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Read More›
in Christmas Bureau / Featured / News / Toys For Tots 0 comments
Truck full of donations
September 9, 2022

Reflecting on the fall of 2021

Amid an unprecedented pandemic, the Fraser Valley experienced unprecedented flooding in November 2021. Residents watched helplessly as their residences and businesses filled with water. As thousands of residents were suddenly evacuated and cut off from their workplaces and loved ones, hundreds turned to the Archway Food Bank for basic provisions and non-perishable food items.

With the flooding came disruptions to supply chains which caused food shortages. For those already accessing the Food Bank anxieties were running high as reserves of food and resources to travel to other towns to purchase supplies are often out of reach.

Read More›
in Christmas Bureau / Featured / General / News 0 comments
January 5, 2022

15th Auto Mall Food Bank Drive Continued!

Fifteen years ago, the Dealers of the Fraser Valley Auto Mall decided to organize a large donation to the Archway Food Bank of Abbotsford. The event grew each year and in view of the current circumstances, 2021 has seen huge generosity. On December 22, 2021, in the showroom of MSA Ford, Steve Magown, manager of the Fraser Valley Auto Mall presented a cheque in the amount of $19,000 to Rebecca Thuro and advised that, with last-minute donations, the total amount for 2021 would increase.

Read More›
in Christmas Bureau / Featured / News 0 comments
November 30, 2021

Archway’s Toys for Tots Collects Over 1,500 Toys

The Archway Toys for Tots event collected more than 1,500 toys and $24,000 for gifts for children, youth and seniors on Friday, November 26th. 

“We weren’t sure how the turnout would be with the ongoing flooding, new location and new format, but once again we were amazed at how many people took the time to purchase and drop off a toy so others could have a better Christmas,” said Rebecca Thuro, a supervisor at the Archway Food Bank.

Read More›
in Christmas Bureau / News / Toys For Tots 2 comments
Connecting during Christmas
January 7, 2021

Connecting During a COVID Christmas

by Tracy Rahn (Christmas Bureau Coordinator) and Rebecca Thuro

If there is one thing that connects us all as human beings, it’s the deep desire to be seen. To be known. To feel that we belong. It is, in the simplest terms, the need for connection – this has been especially highlighted in a year where isolation is necessary. I (Tracy Rahn) experienced some of the most profound moments of connection, of empathy and understanding at this year’s Christmas Bureau. I found it peeking out from behind masked faces, passing sets of eyes that we sometimes may not even recognize as our neighbour or old acquaintance.

 

Read More›
in Christmas Bureau / Featured / General / News 2 comments
December 10, 2020

Tammy’s Story

by Lucas Driediger

I was first introduced to Tammy earlier this Fall. Although she had used the Food Bank off and on in the past, the pandemic and changed things. With some newly diagnosed health issues, contracting any new sickness has created new challenges.

Thankfully, the combination of her positive attitude, strong demeanor, and community support have helped her get by in this time.

Read More›
in Christmas Bureau / Featured / General / News 1 comments
Lifelong Impact Header
December 9, 2020

Life Long Impact of One Christmas

In dark times like these, it’s stories of hope that lift our spirits. We’d like to introduce you to Kihci Têpakohp Iskotêw Iskwêw (Emily Henry) a current board member at Archway Community Services. She is a Néhiyaw (Cree) person, originally from Ochapowace Band, Saskatchewan and she shares a personal story of how the compassion of strangers made a lifelong impact at Christmas when she was a child.

Her story is one of hope and how its effects can ripple through time.

Read More›
in Christmas Bureau / Featured / News 1 comments
Toys for Tots Response
December 4, 2020

Toys For Tots Response

From the beginning of the planning process to the eventual cancellation of Toys for Tots Drive Thru, nothing could have prepared us for this year. Planning an event during a pandemic is not for the faint of heart! Knowing that the event was a huge driving force in making Christmas possible for 1,500 children was all the motivation we needed to continue to adjust the plans as guidelines changed. It was this fact that united the volunteers, sponsors, partners, and community.

Read More›
in Christmas Bureau / Featured / General / News / Toys For Tots 0 comments
Toys for Tots Drive Thru 2020
October 26, 2020

Toys for Tots Christmas Drive Thru 2020

We are so thankful to be able to continue the tradition of kicking off the Holiday season in the true spirit of Christmas at the re-imagined Toys for Tots Drive-Thru – hosted by Clarion Hotel (formerly Quality Hotel) on November 27th from 7:00 am-10:00 am. No one could have predicted how different this year would be. That’s why the return of sponsors, partners and community support and means so much more!  

Read More›
in Christmas Bureau / News / Toys For Tots 0 comments
January 30, 2020

Reflecting on December

by Rebecca Thuro
(3 minute read)

Every year we enter the Christmas season with some loose ends that need a touch of the miraculous. This year we needed a building to host the Christmas Bureau toy room and a way to raise $1.2 million by December 31st. Feeding 3,300 people doesn’t get easier at Christmas. It requires even more engagement from our community. And that is just what we found.

 

Read More›
in Christmas Bureau / Featured / News 0 comments
Toys for Tots Wrap Up
November 26, 2019

7th Toys for Tots Wrap Up

The 7th year of Quality Hotel’s Christmas Breakfast was another wonderful year of seeing the community respond with care for children in need at Christmas. We are happy to announce that together we raised over $42,200 and 1,786 toys for the Abbotsford Christmas Bureau. During the event this year, I came upon one person who had tears in their eyes saying, “I can hardly believe how many people woke up this early to make a difference for a child at Christmas, I’m tearing up.” The Christmas spirit was strong, the joy in the faces of the attendees was evident.

 

 

Read More›
in Christmas Bureau / Featured / News / Toys For Tots 0 comments