Santa Leads Annual Toy Run

By 250 News

The parking lot at CN Centre was jam-packed prior to the start of the Toy Run

Prince George, B.C. - It was a gorgeous fall afternoon for the 29th Annual Prince George Toy Run for the local Salvation Army.

Senior Pastor, Bruce Kirk, says with a grin, "Who says God doesn't like motorcycle riders."

At 29-years, Kirk says, the Prince George event is the longest-running toy run in the province.  "It's also the most quickly growing toy run," he adds.  "When I arrived here in Prince George (six years ago), we had 146 bikes, today we'll probably see about 13-hundred people through the parking lot and I'm guessing about 550 motorcycles."

Santa was the toy run marshal, leading participants on the route through the city.

(!Spoiler Alert! it's actually Kurt Van Der Lans shown in photo at right with Marie Arsenault.  Van Der Lans has been the Toy Run Santa since 1996.)

Pastor Kirk, also Executive Director of the Salvation Army, says the run marks the first event of the 2010 Christmas fundraising effort.

"We'll get about 80-percent of the toys that we'll give away this Christmas from this big event," he says.

"So this is very significant for us, particularly when we see that our fundraising totals have been down about $30-thousand dollars, so we've got a lot invested in this."

 Click bike & toy photo (at left) to watch the riders head out.

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