Thanks to the kindness and generosity of the community, 809 Langley families enjoyed charitable gifts from the Langley Christmas Bureau this season.
In total, 444 parents registered from the Township and 365 from the City this year, and 483 families were sponsored by 295 individuals, families, churches and schools throughout Langley.
Those registrants who were not sponsored received grocery store gift cards, toys and stocking stuffers purchased through cash donations to the bureau.
“This year our sponsors were generous as per usual so we were able to increase the amount of gift cards and give tons and tons of toys,” said Jim McGregor, co-director of the Langley Christmas Bureau.
More than 100 volunteers have been working since July to organize the effort, meaning that “99 cents out of every dollar goes back to the families,” he said.
A variety of gifts were purchased for families with kids as young as two weeks old to those with teenagers. One pregnant lady who came in was going to be induced the next morning, so the volunteers “ran around like hens” to put together a baby basket for her, McGregor recalled.
There were 127 new registrants this year, many who are recent immigrants to Langley. One such family was a group of refugees from Syria, who just arrived in Canada for the first time.
“In a lot of cases Christmas itself is new to them,” McGregor said. “To have the generosity of Langley start them off is pretty special.”
For more information on the Langley Christmas Bureau, visit www.langleychristmasbureau.com.