Over the last few years, a Christmas toy drive for kids who might not otherwise receive toys has outgrown the driveway where it began and moved into the lobby of Chicopee Ski and Summer Resort.
Of course, to the person who started it, those few years represent about half his life.
Colin Robinson started Colin’s Toy Drive in 2012. At the time, he was seven years old.
The idea for the campaign came to him when he saw another boy explain how he had organized a charity barbecue.
Robinson decided he wanted to make a difference too. His thoughts turned to Anselma House, a shelter for women and children near his home.
“There are kids in there that are just like me, that don’t get toys,” he says.
The inaugural edition of the drive saw Colin ensure anyone coming by to drop off a gift would notice the Christmas music playing and the fresh cookies on the porch outside his home.
He collected about 60 toys that year. The total has grown ever since, and the drive quickly expanded to encompass other shelters run by Women’s Crisis Services of Waterloo Region. Now that more toys are coming in than that organization needs, others are given to the Salvation Army.
“You just want to make it fair,” Robinson says.
“Everyone should have a toy. It’s just sad that some kids don’t get it.”
Initially, Robinson was helped out mostly by friends and relatives. Now, he receives all sorts of donations from local companies. Celebrities like Premier Kathleen Wynne, astronaut Chris Hadfield and former Toronto Maple Leafs player Tie Domi have also contributed.
Robinson says he plans to keep the drive going even as he moves into high school and beyond.
“I hope that it’ll go forever,” he says.
While Friday was the main day for the 2017 drive, donations can still be made at Chicopee over the next week.
With reporting by Maleeha Sheikh
