news A Seasonal Saviour At Risk

With its funding slashed, can anything possibly replace the Christmas Bureau?

The year Rob Ford killed Christmas. What sounds like a joke—or the title of a potential parody film, put together by film students to reflect the perpetual budget cuts—is sadly the grim future for many children across Toronto. Back in September, when the fate of many of our public services seemed in jeopardy, the Christmas Bureau didn’t manage to escape the axe unscathed; with a vote of 29-16, council decided to cut its funding.

But who, or what, is this bureau?

Beginning in 1956, the Christmas Bureau has worked to ensure thousands of gifts and donations make their way to children and their families during the months of November and December.

To break it down, the bureau ensures Toronto Star Gift Boxes find their way into deserving hands, they run a call centre that refers donors to appropriate charities, and, working alongside CHUM Christmas Wish and the Toronto Fire Services, they distribute gifts to community agencies who then give them to low-income families. Essentially, if you want to make a donation but don’t know where to send it, the Christmas Bureau will tell you exactly what to do.

Talking to some of the organizations to whom donors are often referred, interaction with the Christmas Bureau is actually quite limited (they don’t speak directly with the bureau). In fact, some hadn’t even heard of the bureau, let alone realized that some of its donors were being directed to their organization. On the flip side, the Society of St Vincent de Paul told us that they received 50 to 70 referrals from the Christmas Bureau every day—occasionally having to send some of them back due to being overwhelmed by the number of new donors. Carrying these types of numbers shows just how much of an impact would be felt by all if the bureau were no longer running at full capacity (or at all).

Christine Taylor, director of Programs for Syme-Woolner Neighbourhood & Family Centre (a participant in the toy drive for over 10 years), notes that this year they have 500 fewer toys to distribute and she is isn’t sure how the agency would survive if the bureau was gone for good. Though having to break the news of these setbacks to the families they support can be difficult enough, she explains that a cracked relationship between the agency and the family can sting just as badly: “The families that have trusted and relied on our agency for many years, have often shared their appreciation for the stability and consistency that has maintained our relationship for so long. When they feel they can no longer trust the traditions that have helped them for so long, the relationship at stake will most likely be affected.”

Last year, the bureau played Santa for nearly 140,000 kids across the city, a number that will be difficult to match if the committee is indeed outsourced to a third party. Though organizers declined to comment on its “in-limbo” situation, one hopes that the Christmas Bureau will still exist in some form after this year (its last official year under the City’s wing), even though its funding won’t be coming from the City ($151,000 in 2011).

City council may have put a cloud over Christmas for those in need, but that doesn’t mean there’s nothing the public can do to make Christmas better for Toronto families. Contact the Christmas Bureau at 416-392-3601 for ways to help, gift box drop off locations, and a list of agencies who will take your donations.