Sparky's Toy Drive fills the tree for 3,000 Windsor-Essex youth

Cody Long, right, said Sparky's Toy Drive handed out toys to 400 families on Dec. 7, 2024. (Robert Lothian/CTV News Windsor)

Christmas came early for hundreds of Windsor families who picked up holiday gifts from Sparky’s Toy Drive Saturday morning.

The program, run by local firefighters, provides a bag filled with toys for registered families in Windsor-Essex.

“We spent all of November and December collecting donations at our seven fire stations, and at a lot of community partners located all over the city,” Sparky’s co-lead Cody Long told CTV News. “Each bag has an equal value of toys to it, and it contains things like stuffed animals, board games, sports balls.”

Each bag is prepared for specific age groups and genders to ensure each child receives an appropriate gift.

By noon on Saturday, volunteers had already handed over gifts to about 400 families.

The two-day distribution event will give about 3,000 children something to look forward to under the tree this year.

“We want to make sure a one-year-old is getting a toy for a one-year-old, a 12-year-old getting a toy for a 12-year-old, and if there are any kids with special needs, we make sure to fill those to the best of our ability too,” Long said.

In November, Sparky’s held a registration event for families in need to sign up.

The charitable cause relies entirely on donations to fill each bag.

“This is January to December. It takes all year to be able to pack 3,000 bags properly for specific genders or age groups to ensure the right amount of care and love is put into each of these bags,” he said.

For the past eight years, Sparky’s has operated out of Hotel-Dieu Grace Healthcare. A storage space sits home to thousands of gifts as part of the year-long effort to prepare for the holidays.

“Every request that we've had, they've been able to fulfill for us. We are so incredibly grateful to be able to have this space because, as you can see, we do have a very large footprint here, and this is a very accessible location in the city for people coming here for help,” Long said.

However, after this weekend, Sparky’s is on the move to a new permanent home.

“We've been able to find a permanent location thanks to Yorktown Plaza and N&D Property Management. We're able to have a new home for Sparky, where our organization can continue to grow, and continue to serve Windsor-Essex County,” said Long.

The space will allow Sparky’s volunteers to continue their year-round efforts. While the distribution process is underway, Long said they are taking donations to ensure local youth can receive gifts for the holidays in 2025.