A first-time Santa visit on Baker Place in Maple Ridge, turned out to be a huge crowd-pleaser and ended up raising funds for the Maple Ridge Community Foundation, and food for the food bank.
When people would keep stopping by on Baker Place to look at the lights, Kevin Nosworthy, a resident of the area and a board member for the Maple Ridge Community Foundation, thought of turning people’s visits into a fundraiser and a community event.
“We all get together and light up the whole place. So we decided to get a Santa Claus this year, to give out candy canes, treats, to kids before Christmas. That way, people who stopped by to see the lights, would have an added reason to come stop by our magical lane,” he said.
He then roped in Ernie Daykin as Santa, had some elves as neighbours, and set up a tent and some heaters and lights to bring the community together.
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Since Nosworthy is also in charge of the community chest that is used to help out the Maple Ridge community, he decided to turn this event into a fundraiser for the community foundation’s community chest, and even asked people to drop off non-perishables for the food bank if possible.
“We didn’t expect much in donations but I have a car-full of goodies for the food bank and $650 in cash donations for the community chest,” he said. “The community really came together to make the event so successful.”
Nosworthy also said that over 100 kids stopped by during the event.
“Kids were able to actually see Santa in person. It was better than anticipated,” he said.
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