RMH toy drive total sucess

Tyler Lowey
Times Reporter

 

Santa Claus’s job just got a whole lot easier.
The Strathmore Wheatland Kings organized a toy drive for the Ronald McDonald House Dec. 10 when they hosted the Okotoks Bisons at the Strathmore Family Centre.
Matt Thomson and Emily Wegner welcomed their daughter into the world last spring, but she was born with minor complications. Thomson and Wegner spent five weeks at the Ronald McDonald House while their daughter received treatment at Calgary Children’s Hospital.
Feeling deeply appreciative of all the efforts and help they received at the Ronald McDonald House, Thomson brought up the idea of a toy drive to the Kings game day staff.
Fans were encouraged to bring a new, unwrapped toy to the game in exchange for free entry. The goal was to fill up the box of a Dodge truck.
The results were overwhelming.
“That went a whole lot better than expected. We ended up with way more than we ever hoped for,” said Thomson.
The truck sat west of the entrance and was overflowing with toys. Inside, there were a few stations that were piled a couple feet high with everything from stuffed animals, games and puzzles to electronics.
The Kings also collected $1,364 in cash and gift cards.
Before the game, Bisons forward Robbie McLean presented Thomson with a cheque for the charity. Thomson and Wegner later addressed the crowd while holding their daughter, thanking everyone for their support that evening and thanking the Ronald McDonald House for the support last spring.
Wegner, a figure skating coach in Nanton, skated around the ice during the anthem, carrying the flag.
The following day, Thomson and his family, Wegner, teammates Ryan Grasdahl and Brenden Moore delivered the toys to the Ronald McDonald House.
Due to the sheer volume of the toys collected, they needed an enclosed trailer to stuff everything inside.
Once they got to the Ronald McDonald House, they began unloading the toys and brought them to the house’s great room where the Christmas tree is displayed.
“We were blown away by the generosity of Strathmore and the people from the surrounding area. They nearly filled the entire room,” said Sarah Heibein, the community events coordinator for Ronald McDonald House. Heibein was in attendance for the heart-warming game in Strathmore.
The gifts were not handed out immediately to the children; the Christmas elves there will now take inventory, wrap each gift and check the wish lists in their database and hand out the gifts to the proper children on Christmas.
“It felt really cool to do this at Christmas time. It’s crazy how this went from just an idea to something so huge,” said Wegner.