Showcasing Our Community's Generosity

Every donation makes a difference - every toy, every book, every dollar. Just as important, though, are the people behind the donations. They're the ones, after all, who make the choice to give, and to whom we can offer thanks. The Christmas Fund receives support from individuals and families, businesses and community groups, schools and sports teams and churches. This gallery is dedicated to all of them, and their many acts of kindness. 

We're so grateful to Lansdowne Centre for once again hosting the Christmas Fund Gift Wrap booth. It's an awesome, volunteer-powered fundraising initiative that not only raises money for the Christmas Fund, but awareness too. At this point, we've been at Lansdowne so long it's become a holiday tradition, one we hope to continue for many years to come! We couldn't possibly ask for a better community partner!

It's no secret that, come the holiday season, Richmond Centre is one of the most festive places in town. But behind the scenes, the mall's administrative staff gets in the Christmas spirit, too. Or, more specifically, the giving spirit! In 2017, for the second year in a row, Richmond Centre made a $5,000 donation to the Christmas Fund, a generous gift that will spread festive cheer well beyond the mall, and into the homes of our neighbours in need.

Each of the past three years, Clinical Sleep Solutions has donated $1,000 to the Christmas Fund, via the Dream Project. We've said it many times already this holiday season, but it bears repeating: Richmond is full of caring companies, whose entrepreneurial spirit is matched by their enthusiasm and passion for community giving. Clinical Sleep Solutions is a wonderful example - a successful business that takes pride in giving back!

The Richmond Chinese Community Society did a lot to support the Christmas Fund in 2017, beginning with a very generous $1,200 donation. The organization's Executive Director, Henry Beh, was also hugely helpful with our promotional efforts, particularly among Richmond's Chinese community. Henry even appeared in the Richmond RCMP's Cop Car Karaoke video, adding his voice - quite literally - to the chorus of community leaders singing the Christmas Fund's praises. Thanks, Henry! From left to right: RCCS Immediate Past President Alex Wong, RCRG President & CEO Ed Gavsie, RCCS Executive Director Henry Beh, RCCS Past President and Director Norman Sung, and RCCS Junior Member Charlie Sung.

Consistently generous. That's how we'd describe the Rotary Club of Richmond, who have been making an annual donation to the Christmas Fund for well over a decade. This year's contribution was an incredible $2,550, adding to their overall total of nearly $25,000. Rotarians are committed to making a difference in their community through service and friendship. At the Christmas Fund, we're proud to call the Rotary Club of Richmond our friends, and have seen firsthand the difference they've made in the lives of families in need. Clearly, they're accomplishing their mission!

In 2017, the Richmond Christmas Fund was supported by more than 110 volunteers, who contributed well over 1,000 hours. They helped register families, sort toys, wrap gifts, and so much more. Above all, though, they helped make holiday wishes come true, and served as a shining example of our community's giving spirit.

Wow! We're incredibly honoured this year to have received a $5,000 donation from Mr. Joe Segal, one of Vancouver's most storied philanthropists. It's amazing to think that his legendary generosity is now benefiting families in Richmond through the Christmas Fund. Thank you, sir, for adding us to the long, long list of causes you support. It means a lot! Photo Credit: Rob Kruyt | Business in Vancouver

Windows of Hope, organized since 2004 by the Richmond Auto Mall, is the Christmas Fund's longest-running fundraising initiative, and the largest. This year, Auto Mall General Manager Gail Terry and her incredible team - including Bumper - set a new record, raising a jaw-dropping $36,275. (Of course, last year's $33,495 was pretty impressive in its own right!) Simply put, the Christmas Fund wouldn't be able to help nearly as many families as it does without the Auto Mall's support. All we can say, just as we have for the past 14 years, is thank you, though words can never express just how much we truly mean it.

A big thank you to Ingram Micro's Richmond office for organizing a toy drive in support of the Christmas Fund. Their donation included a wonderful selection of items for kids of all ages - gifts that will surely make Christmas morning extra special!

Richmond-Steveston MLA John Yap has long been a supporter of the Christmas Fund, not only donating himself, but encouraging his constituents to give as well. Indeed, for the past two years, John has prepared a video, in which he talks about the important role the Christmas Fund plays in the community, particularly during the holiday season. Here's this year's edition, filmed in our Toy Room. Thanks for spreading the word, John!

Every year since 2013, SmartCentres has made a donation to the Christmas Fund. Their $1,500 contribution this year brings their overall total to $11,500 - a truly generous gift that has brightened the holidays for hundreds of families in need.

It was wonderful this year to have the support of Richmond's Shoppers Drug Mart stores, who put together some beautiful gift baskets for Christmas Fund families. It's always awesome to receive donations for groups that sometimes get overlooked, like teenagers. This will ensure that they have a magical holiday season, too!

We met Kaye Liao Banez in August, at the launch of her new children's book, See Yah in the Morning! We hit it off right away, learning quickly that Kaye was much more than a talented author; she was someone who cared deeply about community causes, and was willing to work extremely hard to support the ones she believed in. This holiday season, the Christmas Fund was the beneficiary of her efforts. With help from her son Lazarus and daughter Estella (her company's President and Director of Sales, respectively), Kaye sold hundreds of copies of her book, each time donating $2 to the Christmas Fund. Plus, many of the books purchased ended up in our Toy Room, donated back to the program so we could distribute them to children in need. Kaye and her family ultimately raised $830, and have earned the title, we think, of Richmond's hardest working philanthropists.

Sage may be an international company, but they're committed to local philanthropy. Employees at their Richmond office, for example, regularly volunteer at The Sharing Farm and Richmond Food Bank. This year, they added the Christmas Fund to their list of supported charities, dropping by our office to donate several boxes full of toys.

Since 2014, the Canadian International Freight Forwarders Association has been donating toys to the Christmas Fund. Not just a bag of toys, or a box - but a van full of toys, stacked up to the roof, every year. That adds up to a lot of smiles on Christmas morning!

As their name suggests, the Rotary Club of Richmond Sunrise meets early in the morning - sometimes, even before the sun itself is up! And while we may have to set multiple alarm clocks to ensure we get up on time, it's a meeting we're always honoured to attend, as the Club has been extremely generous to the Christmas Fund. This year, they made a $1,500 donation, bringing their total since 2006 to nearly $40,000. Service above self, indeed!

Over the past 10 years, the Granby Group of Companies has quietly donated over $50,000 to the Christmas Fund, including $6,130 in 2017. We thank them, of course, for their remarkable generosity, but also their dedication to our cause. A decade is a long time to be supporting the same charity. That Granby believes in our work - and continues to make it possible - means the world to us.

Steveston Girls Night Out gets bigger and better every year, and that's great news for the Richmond Christmas Fund. Why? Because we receive $5 of every ticket sold. In 2017, that meant a $700 donation! Kudos to the event organizers - including Erinn Bryan - for creating a shopping night that supports local businesses and community causes at the same time.

Many of the photos in this year's Christmas Fund Giving Gallery were taken at Aberdeen Centre, which provided the perfect setting for our annual Angel Donor reception. Aberdeen is much more than a wonderful host, however. In recent years, they've donated $10,000 - at least - to the Christmas Fund, raised during the mall's holiday horsey rides. In 2018, Aberdeen will be supporting the program with a new fundraising initiative, connected to their Chinese New Year celebrations. Stay tuned!

Grant and Erinn Bryan, who own O'Hare's GastroPub, have been putting on Steveston Beer Fest since 2013. To say the event has been successful would be the understatement of the century, considering it regularly sells out months in advance. What makes Beer Fest truly special, though, is the impact it has on the community. To date, it's raised over $50,000 for the Richmond Christmas Fund, including $11,480 in 2017. And to think: that's merely the tip of the iceberg, as Grant and Erinn support many other charities as well. Clearly, the pair cares deeply about their community, going above and beyond to make it a better place to live, work, and go to school.

We absolutely loved this initiative, organized by some of our community's leading female entrepreneurs. Called the Richmond Chamber of Commerce Women's Circle, the group raised $590 for the Christmas Fund, and made the holiday season a lot brighter for families in need.

Vivid Green Architecture, led by Rosa Salcido, first came to the Christmas Fund via the Dream Project, in 2016. That year, they donated $500. We're so happy that they offered their support again in 2017, with another $500 donation. It's just one more example of the giving spirit shown by so many local entrepreneurs.

Opacity Design Group has a long history with the Christmas Fund, creating the program's first official logo over a decade ago: the now iconic teddy bear. In 2017, they refreshed the program's entire look, a process that involved over one hundred hours of work, which Opacity did as an in-kind donation. The end result, which you've surely seen throughout the holiday season, is not only a brilliant new snowflake logo, but a return of the teddy bear, re-imagined as an enthusiastic mascot. We can't thank Opacity enough for sharing their immense talents with the Christmas Fund. Their work, without a doubt, has helped create greater awareness of our cause, making it possible for us to brighten the holidays for even more of our neighbours in need.

Bekins Moving & Storage are the unsung heroes of the Christmas Fund, working behind the scenes to ensure the program runs smoothly from year to year. When Christmas Fund distribution ends, Bekins helps us pack up the Toy Room, then stores the remaining toys, so we can give them out the following holiday season. When the time comes for the Christmas Fund to start up again, Bekins arrives like clockwork, to help set up the Toy Room for another year of holiday cheer. Normally, the cost of storage and labour would be in the neighbourhood of $7,200. Bekins does it all for free, because they're generous beyond belief.

The Richmond Hotel Association and its members welcome tens of thousands of visitors to our community every year, giving travelers from around the world a place to stay as they explore the sights and sounds of Richmond. Beyond promoting tourism, though, the Hotel Association is just as focused on building community, as evidenced by their recent $10,000 donation to the Christmas Fund, among many other charitable endeavours.

This is the second year that Master Michael Sirota, of Sirota's Alchymy Martial Arts & Life Skills Centre, has been involved with the Christmas Fund, and his donation is both generous and unique. Like last year, he's provided 20 six-month scholarships to his school, which will be offered to children who have registered with the Christmas Fund. Each scholarship is valued at $1,000, and includes a uniform. What an awesome Christmas gift - one that will last well into 2018!

In 2017, for the third year in a row, the Richmond RCMP organized a Toy Drive and Pancake Breakfast in support of the Christmas Fund. But wow, this year, they really outdid themselves! First of all, to promote the event, they gave James Corden a run for his money, by filming the first ever Cop Car Karaoke video. Then, leading up to the event, they ran a fundraising campaign, with total proceeds topping $11,000! And what can we say about the event itself? It was a fantastic success, collecting way more toys than could ever fit in a squad car. Maybe next year, they'll set a more ambitious goal, and try to fill the RCMP command vehicle! If anyone can do it, it's these community-minded cops!

Rubina Wong tragically lost her life in Thailand, when the 2004 tsunami hit. To honour her memory, her family and friends created Rubina Hope for Kids, a non-profit organization that supports a variety of children's charities, including the Christmas Fund. This year, though, they went above and beyond, donating $5,000 to sponsor our Skate with Santa event, which gives Christmas Fund families an opportunity to skate for free at Minoru Arenas' Winter Wonderland. It was an incredibly generous gesture, one that would surely make Rubina smile.

As a former board member with our organization, Lisa Wong knows all about the Christmas Fund, and the impact it has on the community. It's that firsthand experience that explains her generosity - not only the $750 she donated this year, but the $2,350 she's contributed overall. Then again, Lisa may just be an awesome person, who believes in giving back. Either way, we're lucky to have her support!

Nurse Next Door, led by Brett Kendrick, has been supporting the Christmas Fund since 2014, when the company came to our Drive-Thru Event with three cars full of toys. And while they've continued that tradition, they've extended their generosity to monetary donations as well, contributing $500 this year as part of the Dream Project, and over $1,000 overall.

In 2017, for the third year in a row, local entrepreneurs joined forces for the Dream Project, a fundraising campaign in support of the Christmas Fund. Together, they raised $10,000, bringing their total since 2015 to well over $25,000. Richmond is home to caring companies of all shapes and sizes, doing their part to create a strong, healthy, vibrant community. The Dream Project is a wonderful example of their efforts.

A big, big thank you to the staff, students, and families of St. Joseph the Worker Catholic Elementary School, who, for the second year in a row, organized a toy drive in support of the Christmas Fund. It's always extra special when kids get into the giving spirit. Kudos to the parents and teachers for leading by example!

Even prior to this holiday season, we were big fans of Banh Mi Tres Bon, which makes some of the best Vietnamese sandwiches in Greater Vancouver. Well, consider us even bigger fans now, after the restaurant donated $500 to the Christmas Fund! Delicious food and incredible generosity - talk about a winning combination!

In 2017, Richmond Realtors came through for the Christmas Fund in a big way, together donating $16,000. In total, 81 Realtors took part in the annual campaign, representing RE/MAX Westcoast, Sutton Group - Seafair Realty, Macdonald Realty Westmar, Sutton Group - Westcoast, RE/MAX Crest Realty, and RE/MAX Real Estate Services. Since Patti Martin launched the campaign, in 2011, it's raised an incredible $69,000. What a remarkable - and inspirational - success story!

On Sunday, December 3, over 40 classic cars cruised through Steveston Village, before stopping behind the Buck & Ear Bar & Grill, where hundreds of excited onlookers marvelled at what was a truly amazing automotive display. And while the cars were awesome, we feel the drivers deserve just as much attention, because each of them brought a toy to donate to the Richmond Christmas Fund. Many of them made monetary donations as well - nearly $900 in total! It was all part of the Christmas Classic Car Cruise, organized by Doug Harder, and presented by the Steveston Merchants Association. It's an event that gets bigger and better every year, and we can't wait to see what this generous group of car (and community) aficionados has in store for 2018!

The Richmond News does a lot to support the Christmas Fund, from in-kind advertising to in-depth editorial coverage. Indeed, we count on the paper throughout the holiday season, not only to promote Christmas Fund events and fundraising activities, but to tell families how to access the program if they need help. What's really awesome, though, is how the paper's staff members support the Christmas Fund in other ways. Here they are, for example, volunteering at this year's Windows of Hope event, generously giving their time because they, like us, believe that everyone deserves to share in the holiday spirit.

For three years, Richard and Zinha Vetter, of WealthSmart, have been organizing the Dream Project, a Christmas Fund campaign that draws on the generosity of local entrepreneurs. And they don't just run the campaign; Richard and Zinha lead by example, this year donating $1,200.

David Newman and his team at Signarama Richmond have been supporting the Christmas Fund since 2014. This year, they made a $1,000 donation, as part of the Dream Project. This included a $500 monetary donation, and $500 of in-kind support, so we could print signage featuring the new Christmas Fund logo and mascot!

On November 17, at the end of a dark and stormy week, the Vancouver Metropolitan Lions Club brought a little sunshine to our office, when they dropped off a $1,020 Christmas Fund donation. It definitely brightened our spirits, and will do the same for families in need this holiday season.