Community comes together to fulfill 1,200 wishes this Christmas
By Rick Garrick
FORT WILLIAM — Dilico Anishinabek Family Care and The Children’s Aid Society of the District of Thunder Bay (CAS) celebrated the filling of 1,200 Christmas Wish bags for children and youth on Dec. 8. The two agencies had announced they were joining together for the 2025 Christmas Wish Campaign in mid-November, and the community responded by filling the Christmas Wish bags with new toys, warm clothing, books, learning supplies, and essential care items.
“Over the last week, we have seen hundreds of Wish bags flood into the offices, just overflowing with gifts for the children and youth,” says Sarah Pelletier, director of child welfare at Dilico. “Every year, we are amazed by the generosity of the community and every year you outdo yourselves. This year was a milestone for Dilico, for 17 years now, Dilico has been hosting the Christmas Wish campaign. But in 2025, something big happened — we joined with our friends at Thunder Bay CAS to partner to reach even more children and youth in the community, two agencies, one wish.”
Pelletier says it was really exciting to see all the gifts that were brought in over the past week.
“We’ve been sorting gifts all week — these gifts and the generosity of the community is really great,” Pelletier says. “We had awesome donations this year. We had bikes this year, guitars, AirPods, so really customized gifts for the kids, and it’s awesome to see the generosity of the community.”
The Christmas Wish bags, which were distributed throughout the District of Thunder Bay since mid-November, were customized for each individual child, featuring tags that outlined their age, interests, and Christmas wishes.
“Each bag tells a story of someone who took the time to make sure a child that they have never met smiles at Christmas time,” says Glenda Takalo, director of services at CAS. “There’s this overwhelming moment where you realize what a community can accomplish. Together, we really can make even more wishes come true. That’s the true spirit of the season — bringing joy to a child and making the holidays brighter for those who need it most.”
The gifts included 10 brand new children’s bicycles from the Rollin’ Thunder bike and ski shop in Thunder Bay for children who wished for a bicycle on their Christmas Wish tags.
“I wanted to do something good for the community and the easiest way for me to do that was to donate something from my business,” says Kurt Breitsprecher, owner at Rollin’ Thunder. “I got their heights and weights and ages and then we bought some bikes and we built them up for them and now they’re going to be delivered probably tomorrow.”
Since the Christmas Wish bag campaign was launched in 2008, more than 11,200 bags have been delivered to children and youth.
“Having 11,000 gifts out in the community over the years is just amazing,” Pelletier says. “It really does speak volumes for the city in wanting to give back to the kids in need, so we can’t say thank you enough [for] the donations that we’ve received over the years from families and community.”
Pelletier says the Christmas Wish bags will be delivered throughout the District of Thunder Bay by agency staff and volunteers, the Christmas Wish elves.
“As the Dilico and CAS elves get ready to deliver gifts across the region once again, we’re reminded that this campaign is more than numbers,” Pelletier. “It’s about the memories the Wish bags bring, and the bright smiles we’ve been able to share with children and families. So many Christmas Wishes have come true because of you. Miigwech to everyone who helped make this year’s campaign a success.”
The major sponsors and supporters of the Christmas Wish Campaign included Sovereign Dental, Cheadles LLP, Ontario Power Generation, Up Front Auto, Tipi Group of Companies, Synergy North, Doane Grant Thornton LLP, Janzen’s Pharmacy, CMA Renovations, Weilers LLP, Hydro One Remotes, and Redwood Park Church.