Throughout the year we do not have a physical address. We can however be contacted by snail mail at:

Yearly, from November 1st to January 15th our phone number is:

The operation is located at the Bayview Plaza,

Our hours of operation are:

In 1972 a small group of North Island people formed the Upper Island Social Assistance and Low Income Group. The group, largely made up of social assistance recipients, understood that the only way to break free of the system was under their own power.

The Society's goal was to get people off welfare, by helping to build confidence in their abilities. The founders understood that many people on welfare suffer from low self-esteem and a sense of futility. Many give up trying.

"We aren't interested in making people better recipients of social assistance, we want to get them up and out so that they can work again," said Doris Marlow, in an interview published in the Comox district Free Press in October of 1974.

Doris was one of the founding members of the Upper Island Social Assistance and Low Income Group and was the driving force behind the society, until 1994.

The society worked hand-in-hand with the governments of the day. Canada Employment, Ministry of Social Services and Probation Services of the Corrections Branch sponsored people for work experience programs developed by the society.

In collaboration with North Island College, courses were offered to low-income people. The focus of these courses was to build self-esteem and re-introduce people to the fundamentals of being part of the working world.

A major concern of the society was the effects of poverty on children. They knew that the school dropout rate and delinquency rates were higher in low-income families. They were very aware of the reasons: Not having the "right" brand of clothing Unable to participate in sports, social groups or even school outings, because of the cost. Arts and recreation took a back seat to food and housing. A report by the National Council of Welfare, released in 1975, cited "peer pressure" as the biggest factor in the dropout rates by the poor.

Summer camp, Girl Guides and trips to the PNE were activities that those who had money took for granted. The children of low-income families often become resentful of "the privileged," and of the system, they blame their parents for their situation.

The society developed programs for youth. For many years they raised money to send children to summer camp and trips to Vancouver (PNE, Planetarium, etc). Their biggest contribution was the annual Santa's Toy Shop. The Society also operated a thrift store and a drop-in centre.

While the society was largely self-supporting it did received some government funding. In 1982, a change in government brought an end to the society's funding and it was forced to shut down its work experience programs. In the years following the society's sole purpose was to provide toys to needy children at Christmas.

We are a Registered Society and have a charitable tax number, so we can issue tax deductible receipts.

We accept donations of new and reusable items.

We also accept cash donations. The cash is used to purchase new items, supplies needed for restoration of toys and to pay for operational costs.

We are a Registered Society and have a charitable tax number, so we can issue tax deductible receipts, for cash and new items donated (receipt needed).

In past years we have received large numbers of used items that we cannot use:

• stuffed animals
• clothing
• damaged books and puzzles
• broken hard plastic toys
• non-working electronic/battery operated items.

Unfortunately, these items have not been selected. We do not have the technical experience to fix electronic items and cannot repair broken plastics.

Our experience is that the following used items are most selected:

• working electronic/battery operated toys, like hand held games, Nintendo, remote cars
• sports equipment
• dolls (no marks on face, hair in good shape)
• intact action figures
• large play sets (not broken) like Lil Tikes and Play Skool
• bikes for all ages (we can fix them)
• books and puzzles in like new shape (a small mark or two is OK)

The majority of the item we receive are for children ages 10 and under. For the older children we find it necessary to purchase item. We also put together gift baskets. If you have items that are suitable. They would be most appreciated. We cannot use used makeup, perfume and hair accessories.

The "rule of thumb" is this:

If you have items to donate, you can bring them to the workshop (old McDonalds building, 1175 Cliffe Ave. in Courtenay) or to the Fire Hall in Cumberland. There will also be a donation box outside our location for after-hour's donations.

DON'T FORGET:

• CUMBERLAND VOLUNTEER FIRE AND RESCUE TOY PICKUP, Sunday November 20 from 11am to 1pm.
• REALTY WORLD'S 22nd Annual TOY PARADE, Saturday November 18th; check the local papers for routes and times.

We are looking for volunteers to help with our work. New and reusable are donated by the community. Volunteers spend many hours cleaning and repair used items, to give them new life. The toys are then made available, free of charge to low-income families. After Christmas we require volunteers to help with the clean up.

Many of our volunteers are also people who require our assistance. They say that by volunteering they feel better about receiving the helping hand that we provide.