For some families, Santa's workshop isn't in the North Pole.
Rather, it's in Mississauga's Square One inside an unused retail space beside a Starbucks, where dozens of volunteers from Holiday Helpers wrap and package items for struggling families, hoping to provide them with some holiday spirit.
"We know this is a really stressful time for parents," co-founder Sarah Rutka said. "So, when you're living in a low-income situation. It can be really tough to make ends meet, and we know a lot of these families are already accessing food banks and subsidized housing. And so it's difficult to buy even the simple things."
But unlike Santa's workshop, Holiday Helpers deal with more than just toys.
Inside every package is a set of winter clothing for each family member, two household items, two toys for each child and two gifts for each adult.
Poverty relief is part of Holiday Helpers' plan, Rutka says.
"So every kid receives toys, but we also want to make sure that we're providing poverty relief items," she said. "So every family will receive winter coats and hats, and mitts, because we think that's really important. But they also get household items, so things like warm blankets and household items like kitchen items, like kettles and toasters.
"We just want to help them by providing them with things that they might not be able to afford," Rutka said.
This coming Christmas will be Holiday Helpers' 21st year of gift giving, and their 2025 goal is to help 1,300 families throughout the GTA and Hamilton.
A number that may continue to increase in the future.
"Every year we have more and more families that ask for help," Rukta said. "So yes, I think things are, we are seeing the demand get greater and greater. More and more families need help this time of year."
The Daily Bread Food Bank's 2025 "Who's Hungry" report states that food bank visits in Toronto reached 4.1 million, an increase of 500,000 from 2024.
And Social Planning Toronto's most recent child poverty report shows an increase to 25.3 per cent — one in four children — from 16.8 per cent.
Even a few of the volunteers talked about how economic anxiety has put their volunteer work into a different light.
During a break from wrapping gifts, volunteer Saiyyada Rizvi said the cost of food is becoming difficult for many.
"You know, I think every time someone is going to the grocery store, I think that's the first time they really see it," she said. "I mean, doing weekly groceries, which is like the bare minimum, now comes to an amount which is much larger, which puts it into perspective how challenging it may be for people who may be strapped for financial needs and stuff like that."
Another volunteer, Tracey Whittall, says her exposure to the program opened her eyes to the struggles people face.
"Like coming here, you really," and she thought for a few seconds, searching for words. "It's a humbling experience. It really does make you reflect on the work that they do here and the fact that we can bring a lot of joy to families that may not otherwise have that."
But while the economic statistics look bleak, Holiday Helpers are focusing on making sure the families on their list receive the packages.
Those packages also have the tendency of coming back to them, just in a different way.
Rutka said volunteers never forget about their time at Holiday Helpers.
“We actually have met volunteers that have come back 10 or 15 years later, and they say to us that we received a Holiday Helpers' package," she said. "So, it's really cool to see it come first circle.
"It's nice to meet them to know, because they'll tell us that, like, it made an impact," Rutka said. "And what's nice to see, that it made such an impact that they, too, as an adult, they wanted to give back. So that's a really nice thing to see that when you can help somebody out, it creates a circle of everybody giving back. So it's really nice to see."
