A flight which is scheduled for this weekend is sure to put smiles on the faces of thousands of children this Christmas.
The Toys for the North program, now in its eleventh year, is a partnership between 8 Wing CFB Trenton and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP).
Corporal Rob Buller of the RCMP says this year they are delivering toys for approximately 4,000 children ranging in age from five to 13.
Buller has been coordinating this program for the RCMP for the last three years and says it is not hard to find volunteers to distribute the toys to those in need when the time comes.
Toy manufacturing companies donated the toys to the Canadian Toy Association, which then gives the toys to the RCMP to be delivered. The toys are valued at over $185,000 this year alone.
The toys arrived earlier this week via transport truck and were being loaded onto a Hercules plane scheduled for two training flights with stops in Goose Bay, Iqaluit and Thunder Bay.
8 Wing Commander Colonel Ryan Deming says this is a great initiative and they are happy to play a role in this program as they do visit northern Canada quite a bit and this is just another way they can maintain their outreach.
“If anything with the last two years and the pandemic, it’s how involved the Canadian Armed Forces are here in Canada,” said Deming. “I think that’s something important for Canadians in general to understand is the Armed Forces does deliver here in Canada; as well as what we’re delivering around the world.”
The flight, which is scheduled to depart this weekend, to Iqaluit from CFB Trenton is five or six hours depending on the weather says Deming and the toys should arrive in their respective communities between December 5 and 6.
8 Wing Commander Col. Ryan Deming (left) looks on at the toys set to fly to northern Canada as part of the Toys for the North program. (Photo: Amanda Smith/Quinte News)
Toys on a skid are unloaded from a transport truck to be loaded into a cargo plane to fly to northern Canada as part of Toys for the North. (Photo: Amanda Smith/Quinte News)
Toys are set to be transported to northern Canada from CFB Trenton as part of the Toys for the North program in partnership with the RCMP. (Photo: Amanda Smith/Quinte News)
