CSR Business Values Inspire Toy Mountain and Santa Clause Fund

The holiday season is upon us and many businesses are demonstrating their CSR business values by supporting causes to help those less fortunate. Two very worthy seasonal organizations, not only supported but also run by businesses, are Toy Mountain and The Toronto Star Santa Clause Fund.

Toy Mountain
Toy Mountain is an organization which is run by CTV Toronto and benefits the Salvation Army. This year marks the sixteenth season that the Toy Mountain toy drive is running. The organization collects toys to give to children in need around the greater Toronto area, thus providing them with a holiday to remember. Last year the organization gave out 143,512 toys and this year it aims to deliver 150,000 toys.

The official Toy Mountain campaign launched November 16th with more ways to give than ever before thanks to a dedicated website able to process online donations as well as provide a list drop-off locations. You can also follow the campaign via its Twitter feed and Facebook page or participate through one of its partner’s promotions:

• For the second year in a row, Toronto Ford Dealers who will open their doors as drop-off locations and donate a 2012 Ford Focus. On Thursday, Dec. 22, the final 2011 Toy Mountain broadcast on CTV News at 6pm, the 2012 Ford Focus winner will be announced. To enter, bring a new unwrapped toy to any of the Toronto Ford Dealerships to receive a ballot.
• Longo’s, an Ontario grocery chain, is helping support Toy Mountain this year by selling “Toy Mountain Cupcakes” decorated with a holiday theme for $1.79. The cupcakes went on sale November 24 and will be available until December 24. All the proceeds will go directly to purchasing toys for the charity. The goal is to make sure that every child has a Christmas.
• McDonald’s Restaurants have allocated over 100 locations to act as drop off centres for Toy Mountain donations plus other participating partners include Best Buy, participating GTA shopping centres, Boston Pizza, and Uncle Neil and Friends.

The Toronto Star Santa Claus Fund
The Toronto Star Santa Clause Fund was established in 1906 by the newspaper’s founder Joseph E. Atkinson who experienced poverty as a child and carried the memory of a generous stranger who bought him skates as a young boy into adulthood and throughout his successes.

In the beginning, Atkinson would write about children in need and asked readers to contribute money to purchase approximately 100 gift boxes that were distributed through his local church, Holy Trinity in Toronto. The original gift boxes contained items like fruit, candy, socks and mitts. Today the tradition of writing about a child in need continues as does the concept of readers financially contributing to the purchase of gift boxes, however, the contents and quantity have grown incredibly.

The 2011 Toronto Star Santa Claus Fund goal is $1.6 million which will serve to provide over 45,000 less fortunate children with a bright gift box filled with a warm sweater, socks, mittens, hat, book, toy, candy and dental hygiene kit. All merchandise is purchased directly from manufacturers at significant cost-savings with great attention given to quality, style, safety, value, variety and reflect age, not gender. 100% of all money donated is spent on purchasing the items contained in the gift boxes. The Toronto Star pays for all administrative costs to the Fund. Gift boxes are still delivered by volunteers from church groups, Boy Scouts, Girl Guides, etc. as they were in the beginning.

The Toronto Star collects children’s names from Ontario Works along with over 90 other social service agencies in Toronto, Brampton, Mississauga, Ajax and Pickering. You can donate online or via phone at 416-869-4847 and all donations are tax deductible and donors receive recognition in the Toronto Star.

CSR business values can be so much more than words on a page – they can become viable entities in their own right that change lives by giving hope.
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Miratel Solutions is a Toronto call centre, eBusiness, and letter shop mail house specializing in professional fundraising services including telephone fundraising, online fundraising, lottery services, donation caging, donation processing and other donor management services. We are committed to our CSR business values in all contact centre services and mail house operations and advancing the missions of the nonprofits we proudly serve.