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Over the years, I’ve introduced you to many of the kids who walk, and roll, the halls of Variety Village. They’re a wonderful, colourful lot — and so are The Toronto Sun readers who have their back.
As the Sun Christmas Fund closes in on $2 million all-time, let’s give a nod to the thousands of generous souls who got us here.
Some are legends, including hockey royalty like Gordie Howe, Steve Stavro, the Smythe family and Frank Selke.
Stavro, a supermarket magnate, also donated the fund’s most stupendous draw prize: A side of beef.
Cranky old Harold Ballard, once the Maple Leafs owner, gave my Sun fund predecessor, George Gross, five crisp $100 bills every Christmas, on condition it be anonymous.
Rangers legend Vic Hadfield donated. Maple Leafs’ Peter Zezel, once gave us his Molson Three Stars prize, $500. Sports media stars like Brian Williams, Joe Tilley, Elliotte Friedman and especially Joe Bowen have donated.
So have the NHL players’ union, the Ontario Jockey Club, the baseball Maple Leafs, Woodbine racetrack, golf tournaments, bowling leagues, breakfast clubs and family foundations. Shopsy’s Deli and McDonald’s Canada were big original donors.
This year’s first donor, again, was Peter Maik, who’s in the Ringette Canada Hall of Fame.
At least two mayors have pitched in over the decades: Allan Lamport and John Tory. Also, lieutenant governors Lincoln Alexander and David Onley, who wrote the forward to my 2021 fundraising book, SMALL MIRACLES — the Inspiring Kids of Variety Village.
But most donors are not super rich and famous, just people moved by Variety Village and its kids with disabilities. Some donors have been pretty colourful themselves.
Who could forget Kaled the Human Vacuum Cleaner? All year, Kaled patrolled downtown streets, head down, scooping up dropped cash and coins, then lugging them in to my desk. Eventually, he stopped coming, presumably another victim of today’s cashless society.
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The king, however, was Mort “Mutty” Greenberg. Mort was the Arm-Twisting Champion of the World. A former CBC cameraman, he made friends with folks he filmed — from Leafs legend George Armstrong and boxer George Chuvalo to opera stars like Birgit Nilsson. Few could refuse his Christmas pleas — and over six decades, he raised about $800,000 for charities, including the Sun fund.
Mort died in 2018, a year after I retired from the Sun — but he went out with a charitable bang. Mort raised $11,000 for my fund on his last go, with help from nephew, Sheldon Ehrenworth, and friend, Elizabeth Shelton. He handed me the cheque from his hospital bed.
The fund was started 40 years ago by Sun founder Doug Creighton (whose kids still donate) and sports editor Gross. George died in March 2008 at age 85. His office was next to mine in the Sun newsroom. I finished his last story — about an iconic hockey stick — and assumed the fund’s helm that Christmas.
Sun colleagues have always been among the most faithful fund fans. One of the donors in George’s final campaign was Jack Boland, a rookie newshound at the Sun, who gave $20. This year, Jack, somewhat more grizzled, was assigned to my first column. When we wrapped, Jack handed me $100 cash. “Off and running,” he said.
Last year, we raised a record $139,210, thanks to another dazzling donor, my cat, Tulip. My book about her, VIKING CAT – Saga of Tulip the Brave on Manitoulin Island, has raised $5,000, and counting, for the fund.
The mail strike may cost us another record year, but I expect we’ll pass $2 million all-time around Christmas, just before Karen Stintz departs as Variety CEO to run for the Conservatives in Eglinton-Lawrence.
About the fund, Stintz says: “It’s been remarkable to see how many people care so much about making sure these kids get every chance to thrive and reach their best and have a chance to play.”
Now, it’s up to you. As a Variety kid would say, “Go for it!”
HOW TO HELP
Variety Village, in Scarborough, relies on people like you to help it shine as a sports centre catering to kids with disabilities. Join the honour roll, like these recent donors. You can give direct at www.sunchristmasfund.ca
Bernard Donaghy, Toronto, $200
Elena Stephenson, Toronto, $500
Larry Rice, Toronto, $300
Marilyn A. Verdoold, Sutton West, $100
John Kertesz, Mississauga, $100
Gerald Hardy, Newmarket, $100
Erwin Wolf, Markham, $50
Antonio Cardone, Guelph, $100
Santosh Patel, Toronto, $500
Tom Gariepy, Oakville, $50
James Burns, Etobicoke, $25
Vicki Earles, Toronto, $250
Trudy Eagan, Toronto, $500
Jennifer Hubbard, Toronto, $200, in memory of Paul Fonseca
John Love, St. Catharines, $125
Elsie Mcleod, Scarborough, $100
Silvia Blackwood, Toronto, $250
Nancy Miller, Whitchurch-Stouffville, $100
Joe Bowen, Markham, $100
Joe D’Alimonte, Vaughan, $50
ParkerJack Thompson, Omemee, $100
Jason Poag, Toronto, $125
Helen Mullin, Brampton, $50
John Bromell, Barrie, $50
Tom Swaffield, Alliston, $100
John Dollin, Collingwood, $50
Keith and Suzanne Pennells, Whitby, $500
Janet Flude, Toronto, $200
Stephen Gregoire, Toronto, $150, in honour of Madison Ambos
Helen Zarkos, Toronto, $50
John Cosway, Port Hope, $100
Norma Lee, Toronto, $40
Kevin and Jo-Anne Brown, Lakefield, $100
Dianne Bridger, Scarborough, $50
Donald Creighton, London, $100
Lorrie Shannon, Burlington, $100
Linda Allardyce, Toronto, $100
Brian Gray, Toronto, $100
Maureen Oliphant, Toronto, $100
Anthony Furey, Toronto, $100
Carol Bolton, Etobicoke, $100
Barbara Williams, Toronto, $100
Joy Swetnam, Toronto, $100
Anonymous, $25
Patricia Yardy, Port Hope, $25
Anonymous, $18
Anonymous, $100
Lynda Schwalm, Nobel, $50
Chris Clubine, Bradford West Gwillimbury, $50
Diane Jackson, Pickering, $100
Kathleen Easton, Toronto, $50
Anonymous, $50
Andrew Barber, Mississauga, $25
Linda McKay, Toronto, $250
Heather Clydesdale, Toronto, $100
John Willson, Toronto, $500
Marlyn Strachan, Toronto, $50
Rick McDonald, Mississauga, $100
C. Brown, Toronto, $100
Patricia Galata, Mississauga, $100
Susan McCoy, Toronto, $50, in honour of Luisa Scala
Carol Wilks, Newmarket, $50
Michael Kyte, Richmond Hill, $50
TOTAL: $8,108
TOTAL TO DATE: $52,490