If Victor Ghirra was looking down, he “would probably say, ‘good for you guys, but keep it going!’”

Sue Halabi understandably got a little bit emotional when asked what she thought her good friend Victor would think of the 11th Annual Toy Drive in his memory.

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“He was a very helpful person; he would give everyone a helping hand if he could,” said Halabi, a friend of the Ghirra family and manager of the Riverside Banquet Hall, where Richmondite Victor was once a part-owner before passing in 2007.

“I remember a homeless person coming up to him in the street one day and offering to clean his building’s windows.

“Victor sent him to me and asked if we could find a job for this person. He wanted to help everybody. He had such a good heart.”

Just a few of the toys from last year's Annual Toy Drive in Memory of Victor Ghirra

Halabi said the goal of the toy drive – which climaxes this Saturday from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. with the toy count at Riverside Hall on River Road - is to reach 3,000 toys again this year.

The toy drive collects and donates unwrapped, new toys to charities such as: BC Children’s Hospital, the Lower Mainland Christmas Bureau, Canuck Place and the Richmond Christmas Fund.

But it also donates some of the new toys to kids at Richmond schools, including one in City Centre.

“This is the third year we’ve been helping (the school),” added Halabi.

“There really does seem to be a need there as there are many kids without toys this Christmas. This year, we received requests for toys for 45 kids at the school.”

Halabi said you can donate the new, unwrapped toys to Riverside Hall, 14500 River Rd., between 10 a.m. and 5:30 p.m., right up until Saturday, Dec. 16.

“On Saturday, come join the fun at the grand toy count from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., drop off an unwrapped toy and get your picture taken with Santa,” said Halabi.

“There will be food and lots of fun things happening.”

The Ghirra toy drive has come a long way since it started more than 10 years ago and since its fourth event, when 1,400 toys were donated.

Prior to Victor’s death, he and a Vancity colleague, for 12 years, would dig deep into their own pockets every Christmas to the tune of $1,000 and buy as many toys as they could from Toys R Us - unbeknown to any of Victor's friends and family.

They would then cram the massive magical load into Ghirra's suburban “sleigh” and deliver it to the BC Children's Hospital.

Every year, on arrival at the hospital, Ghirra was always asked by staff, "Who are you and where did these toys come from?"

Not once did he divulge his identity or the origin of the generosity to the hospital. He never even told his wife, four kids or four close brothers, most of whom attended McNair secondary.

On the night of Oct. 20, 2007, the hospital's "secret Santa" passed away, aged 37, as he slept. It was later believed his sleep apnea -- a condition that causes oxygen to be cut off during sleep -- was responsible.

Incredibly, it was only at his funeral that his little Christmas secret began to unravel in front of his family when Ghirra's colleague described how the pair used to make their annual trip to the hospital via Toys R Us.

Within days of Ghirra's death, a family friend, Harvey Kooner, came up with the idea of the toy drive to keep the work of the secret Santa going.