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Firefighters’ ‘Drive-by toy drive’ for Surrey Christmas Bureau, as SuperChefs cooks up kits

‘It’s been a particularly tough year for so many of our Surrey families’
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Surrey City Councillor Linda Annis and her dog Randi (foreground) bring toy donations to Saverio Lattanzio of Surrey Firefighters Association (holding toy) and fellow firefighters. (submitted photo: Pace Group)

Surrey firefighters and a cooking program for kids are among organizations chipping in to help Surrey Christmas Bureau this holiday season.

From now until Monday (Nov. 30), Surrey Fire Fighters Association is hosting a six-day toy drive to help fill the Christmas bureau’s toy depot.

People can drop off donations at any Surrey fire hall.

“It’s been a particularly tough year for so many of our Surrey families,” said Councillor Linda Annis, who challenges all city councillors and residents to bring a toy to their local fire hall before the end of the month.

• RELATED STORY: ‘Toys, toys, toys, we need toys’: Surrey Christmas Bureau calls for donations.

Meantime, SuperChefs Cookery for Kids, in collaboration with the Surrey Christmas Bureau and BC Egg, are putting together holiday cooking kits for families in need.

The kits include healthy ingredients, step-by-step instructional cooking videos and gingerbread house components for a virtual house-making contest.

Program operators are also looking for additional gift donations from the community that would be added to the kits, for delivery tentatively scheduled on Dec. 2.

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“With the holidays upon us during this pandemic, opportunities for families to participate together in fun activities at home are important,” says Dr. Greg Chang, dentist and founder of the Surrey based SuperChefs Cookery for Kids.

The Virtual SuperChefs Gingerbread House Contest will involve prizes, with a challenge to kids to include all components and write a back story about their creation.

“This gingerbread competition is a tradition in our family,” said Chiara Casellato, a four-year employee at SuperChefs and the co-ordinator of the Christmas Kit program, “and we thought it would be fun to share it with other families in Surrey, especially during these unprecedented times.”

The kits will be distributed to more than 100 families registered with the Surrey Christmas Bureau and will be available starting the first week of December.

Elsewhere in Surrey, the annual Gingerbread Village contest/event hosted by Downtown Surrey BIA will take place at Central City Shopping Centre from Dec. 5 to 13.

“We would like to invite all schools, business, non-profit organizations, community services, sports teams, families and all other individuals in the community to build a gingerbread creation representing what they would like to see in their Gingerbread Village,” event planners say. “Our panel of judges will be awarding over $10,000 in cash prizes to the best gingerbread creations. We will also once again be awarding a ‘People’s Choice Award’ which this year will be $1,000.”



tom.zillich@surreynowleader.com

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Tom Zillich

About the Author: Tom Zillich

I cover entertainment, sports and news stories for the Surrey Now-Leader, where I've worked for more than half of my 30-plus years in the newspaper business.
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