Christmas Fund

Freyja Zazu drew inspiration from Dr. Bonnie Henry when she designed her “Mask Up! Crush the Wave” flag.

We have another match ­challenge, and it is a big one. The Times Colonist Christmas Fund is raising money for people in need, and people who have been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Santa Claus will still be ­coming to town for families in need, thanks to the Salvation Army’s annual toy store.

Thank you, thank you, thank you. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you. There has never been a Times Colonist Christmas Fund drive like the one just ended — and that is significant, because we have been raising money every year since 1956.

Grant McKenzie is director of communications for Our Place. Robert is no stranger to diversity. Life has placed many obstacles in his path, and yet he battles them all with a joke on his lips and a smile on his face.

Nelson Antoine organizes a food drive every Christmas because he knows first-hand what it’s like to be in need. When he left the military in 1992 after 12 years of service, he had nothing. “I didn’t have any money to do anything,” he said.

Tuba Christmas 2019 has raised more than $4,300 for the Times Colonist Christmas Fund. “The unofficial grand total is $4,345.15,” said conductor Paul Beauchesne, principal tubist with the Victoria Symphony.

Today’s list of donations to the Times Colonist Christmas Fund includes a small amount from me. The fund is run by a society that is registered as a charitable organization with the Canada Revenue Agency.

Update: One-hundred-plus musicians, young and old, professionals and students, played traditional Christmas carols on low-brass instruments — tubas, baritones, euphoniums and sousaphones — at Victoria Tuba Christmas on Saturday.

A prison inmate just gave $7 to the Times Colonist Christmas Fund. Of all the donations made so far this year, that one jumped out. Not just because of the source, but because of the amount. Seven dollars is very specific.