Christmas Gift for Family

The generosity of Service members at the North Collision Reporting Centre (NCRC) brought Christmas cheer to a Toronto family.

Using the funds collected at their annual holiday party, the uniformed and civilian members donated a turkey dinner and $600 in Walmart gift cards to the Pace family two days before Christmas.

The presentation was made on December 23 at Eva’s Place on Lesmill Ave.

Sergeant Steve Burns, who joined the NCRC last April, conceived the idea.

“My wife is a teacher with the Peel Region District School Board and her school supports a family every year,” he said. “I thought it would be a good idea if our people could come together and do a similar thing for a family in need in the city.”

Darren Fitzgibbon, the Accident Support Services manager, agreed and fully supported the initiative.

“I went online and came up with Eva Place as an organization we could work with to reach out to a family and bring some smiles to them over the holidays,” he said.

Nancy Abrams, the manager of the Family Reconnect program at Eva’s Initiative, thanked the NCRC for the support.

“Our preventative program is geared towards helping keep families together,” she said. “This particular family is in great need. When we approached them with the news that we have a donor that is interested in helping them out at this time of year, they were extremely excited. They are so very appreciative of this enormous donation.”

Husband and wife Kevin and Alison Pace along with two of their six children attended the presentation ceremony.

“This means a lot to me,” he said. “We are a large family and this could not have come at a better time.”

The ages of the children range from one to 16 years.