By Cecilia Nasmith
As Christmas lights go up in downtown Port Hope, Queenie's Bakery owner Adam Pearson is keeping up the holiday tradition he has established at his own store – his ninth annual toy drive.
And not only does he collect the toys – he matches the donations. If customers bring in 15 toys in a day, he goes out and buys 15 more.
There's a reason for doing it that way, Pearson explained last week. He has more than 100 names submitted to him by a variety of community agencies and organizations so, when he sets out on his own shopping trip, he has a handle on what's still needed.
The Queenie's toy drive was not always organized this way, he said. Unfortunately, COVID-19 has forced the popular Giving Tree program at Northumberland Mall to adjourn for a year and reorganize. As a result, the Salvation Army is taking up much of the slack.
As with the Giving Tree, information that has been provided to Pearson in terms of the 100-plus names he has received (for confidentiality purposes) are not actually names. Like the tags supporters pluck from the Giving Tree and purchase a toy for, each “name” is actually identified as a girl or boy, with an age and some idea of what kind of toy he or she would like.
“If I see more of a need for older kids' toys or toys for a girl, I know what to buy,” he said.
In years past, the Giving Tree would get many of his toys, though even then agencies often contacted him directly for help. This year, he will be making all the deliveries himself, driving all over the county to deposit bags of gifts like Santa Claus himself – only no reindeer.
Pearson has always had the giving spirit. Even before he opened Queenie's, he made supporting the Giving Tree a part of every holiday season.
When he opened his bakery, he put up a Christmas tree at holiday time. Then he got to thinking – what's a Christmas tree without gifts underneath. That's how the toy drive began.
And he has tried to make it bigger each year,
“I'm a ridiculously competitive person in general, so I always wanted to do more and more and more.
“This year it's a different situation. Of course, we want to help as much as we can.”
Just bring in a toy, Pearson said, and he'll do the rest.
“There's a lot of kids to make happy this year,” he noted.
“I'm thinking, why not just make one really good Christmas for them.”
