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‘My passion’: Mission Christmas Bureau only works with volunteer help

Christmas bureau powered by volunteers
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Gay Froystad spends five days a week sorting toys for the bureau, which offers a service in which families in need can come by and shop for toys for their kids and pick up food to ensure they have a proper Christmas. (Chris Campbell photo)

A dog-eared James Patterson crime novel sits ignored on a table at the Mission Christmas Bureau space at the Junction Shopping Centre.

It’s a thick book, but the person reading it is only on page 15.

That’s because bureau volunteer Gayetta Froystad (“Just call me Gay!”) is just too busy with her work making Christmas dreams come true.

Froystad spends five days a week sorting toys for the bureau, which offers a service in which families in need can come by and shop for toys for their kids and pick up food to ensure they have a proper Christmas.

The bureau relies on two main things to provide this service. The first is the generosity of Mission residents to donate money, food and toys.

The second are people like Froystad – volunteers who give up their person time to collect all of the toys, sort them and package them up for people.

Froystad, who is retired, could be out travelling, but this event is an important time of the year for her precisely because it’s such an important time for families in need.

“I love doing this,” Froystad says as she unpacks a bag of donated toys. “This is my passion. I love Christmas, I love the toys, I love helping people so kids don’t get left out.”

The Mission grandmother has been volunteering at the bureau for the past six years. She starts in early November and comes in on most days until mid-December.

It’s a lot of time to give up, but the cause is something she feels passionate about.

“No child should have to wake up on Christmas morning and have nothing,” Froystad said. “The people of Mission are so generous and so volunteering to be part of all of this just feels good. It’s important.”

The donations are amazing. There’s everything from play kitchens to BMX bicycles – all brand-new items. The only problem is getting more donations for older kids as people tend to donate items for younger children, she said.

“But kids of all ages need your support, too,” she said.

Froystad says volunteering is a major part of her retirement years. She has volunteered in many ways, including being a driver through Mission Community Services Society. She has driven people to medical appointments, as well as taken others on shopping trips because some older seniors no longer drive.

Froystad did take a break from all of this after her husband Lorne passed away, but has started doing more again because it gives her a purpose each day.

“You have got to have something to look forward to each day,” she said. “Volunteering is awesome if you able to do it.”

Froystad urges more seniors to get involved by volunteering through the Mission Community Services Society.

“It will bring you a lot of satisfaction.”

READ MORE: Mission Christmas Bureau needs more volunteers and donations


 

@shinebox44
chris.campbell@missioncityrecord.com

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Chris Campbell

About the Author: Chris Campbell

I joined the Victoria News hub as an editor in 2023, bringing with me over 30 years of experience from community newspapers in Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley
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