Empty Stocking Fund: For Langley Christmas Bureau, Lego is an ideal vacation present

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In addition to toys and present playing cards, shoppers of the Langley Christmas Bureau will obtain a e-book this season.

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The e-book comes courtesy of Wrap-A-Learn, a joint initiative of the Langley Literacy Affiliation in partnership with the Fraser Valley Regional Library. Every baby as much as 18 years of age will get a e-book.

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Shoppers who need assistance and make an appointment with the bureau additionally obtain a $50 toy present card, a meals present certificates and a go to to the toy depot to decide on a toy for his or her baby or kids.

Patty Lester, coordinator of the LCB, expects to see over 60 households per day from Nov. 28 to Dec. 15, when the company closes for the vacations.

“Final yr we served 1,756 kids from 787 households and this season we anticipate we will probably be nearer to 900 households and a pair of,000 kids,” Lester stated. “Relying on what number of sponsors are recruited to undertake a household to supply a Christmas hamper of meals throughout the Christmas season, the Langley Christmas Bureau will present meals present certificates to households who are usually not capable of be sponsored.”

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Readers of The Province assist fund Langley’s Christmas Bureau by their donations to the Empty Stocking Fund. Since 2001, readers have raised over $7 million. The fund is in its 104th yr.

This yr, funds acquired from the initiative are getting used for meals present certificates and toys.

“Earlier at the moment, the volunteers used funds acquired from the Empty Stocking Fund to buy some toys from Langley Toys R Us, who graciously opened their retailer early to permit the volunteers to decide on some toys,” Lester stated in early November.

“We didn’t acquire toys final yr, so our cabinets had been wanting naked. We anticipate the Langley neighborhood will probably be beneficiant as soon as once more and supply donations and toys, so each baby has a brighter Christmas to stay up for.”

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Having a toy store once more after two years with out one is a welcome return to normalcy for workers, volunteers and shoppers.

“The mother and father get to come back right here and really get to buy toys for the youngsters. That makes it extra private for them. They usually can choose up what they know that their baby goes to get pleasure from slightly than us simply type of guessing.”

This yr bureau employees made certain that they had a variety of Lego on the cabinets to cowl as many age teams as attainable.

“Even adults play with Lego,” she stated. “So we’ve got a variety of Lego, and video games which can be nonetheless in style, like Clue and Jenga, that the older children can play.”

Together with a toy from the bureau, shoppers obtain a present certificates for an area toy store.

As with different bureaus we talked to for this sequence of tales, Langley is anticipating extra shoppers this yr than earlier years.

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“Registrations at this level have positively elevated,” Lester stated. “And I feel possibly there’s a little bit of fear among the many shoppers, like, ‘I don’t need to miss it. I would like it to supply a Christmas for my household.’”

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