With two days to spare before the big day, Toys for Tots Canada volunteers were spending their time in fire halls instead of shopping malls.

Volunteers completed some last-minute pick-ups Saturday morning, including one at the London Fire Department’s headquarters, just in time to give children in need some presents at Christmas.

“We’re in our final two days of delivering toys,” said Master Warrant Officer Rob Krizanec, the president of Toys for Tots Canada.

“Most of our sorting and packing has been completed and we’re just doing our final deliveries to agencies and families around Southwestern Ontario.”

Toys for Tots Canada – a partnership between Canadian Armed Forces, businesses and community members – began in London and has expanded to Toronto and Ottawa. This year the non-profit collected about 20,000 new unwrapped toys, enough to help some 4,000 children.

The campaign, which kicked off earlier this month, got off to a slow start, admits Krizanec, but the community rallied around the cause just in time.

“The generosity of so many Londoners and other people came through at the very last minute,” he said.

“We had huge donations come in this week which were able to meet all our numbers.”

After a marathon season of pick-ups, of sorting, packing and delivering, Krizanec said one moment really stuck out for him this year – a first-time volunteer sent out to deliver presents to a handful of families in need.

“He came back almost in tears. . . They were so thankful. To me, that was really heartwarming,” said Krizanec.

“When people get out there and actually deliver a toy and see that they’ve made a difference to a family, that’s a huge impact.”

But Toys for Tots doesn’t go away after Christmas, the charity provides toys to children year-round. Social agencies and fire departments receive toys to give out to children in need the other 11 months of the year. The agency is still accepting cash donations online at www.toysfortotscanada.com.