Make a gift to the Christmas Bureau and brighten this holiday season.
The Christmas Bureau helps to ensure that low-income families, individuals, and seniors living in North Vancouver, West Vancouver, Lions Bay, and on Bowen Island can celebrate the season.
The Christmas Bureau is located at the Family Services of the North Shore Community Hub in Capilano Mall, 943 Marine Drive, 2nd floor. entrance is via the P2 parking garage off Hanes Avenue.
Ways to donate
There are many ways you can support the Christmas Bureau and make a difference in your community:
1. Make a donation
Your donation helps guarantee that our team can provide individually-selected presents and holiday gift baskets for more than 2,500 people.
2. Support a Family or Individual
Sponsor a Family
Support your neighbours in need by creating a holiday gift basket filled with presents, grocery gift cards, and festive treats. You can ensure a family gets what they need and a little something extra to help brighten the holidays!
How it works:
Our trained staff and volunteers interview each Christmas Bureau applicant to ensure they qualify for support. Applicants are then confidentially matched with a sponsor who assembles a holiday gift basket which includes a gift for each person and a grocery gift card for the family. Sponsors can expect to spend approximately $100/$120 per person. Sponsors often enjoy decorating baskets and tucking in a few extra treats as a special surprise!
Families come in many shapes and sizes and may include a single parent with young children, an aging parent with dependent adult children or grandparents, or a couple without children. Individuals may be folks who are alone without family support, struggling with a disability, a senior living on a fixed income or a community member trying to get back on their feet.
If you have any questions in the meantime, please contact the Christmas Bureau at Christmas@familyservices.bc.ca or call 604-984-9627.
Gift Basket Drop-off Information
Gift basket drop-off day is Tuesday, December 10, from 10am to 7pm, at the Christmas Bureau in our Community Hub. Upon arriving at the Community Hub, check in with our registration team, and they will assist you with your gift basket.
Drop-off Checklist:
- Holiday gift basket with contents wrapped and ready to go.
- Client family’s ID number clearly marked on the outside of your gift basket. Please follow the one-box rule – if all items don’t fit in one box, clearly mark additional box(es) with ID number and indicate number of boxes included (ie. – 1 of 3, 2 of 3, etc.)
- Gift receipts included, in case items need to be exchanged.
- Grocery gift cards in an individual envelope clearly marked with your family’s ID number separate from the gift basket.
- Your completed tax receipt form and receipts (if you are unable to submit these online).
After you have dropped off your basket, we welcome you to stay for refreshments!
3. Visit the Christmas Bureau at the Community Hub to make an in-kind donation
Your in-kind donations ensure vulnerable members of our community receive food support, basic essentials, and gifts so they can celebrate and take care of themselves and their families over the holiday season. There is a deep and ongoing need for the following items:
- Grocery gift cards
- New, full-sized, unopened personal care items such as shampoo, conditioner, body wash, toothpaste/toothbrushes, deodorant
- New, unwrapped toys
- Tween/teen gift cards
The Christmas Bureau serves children 0 – 18, and tweens and teens are often harder to buy for. To help you get started, we have prepared a tween and teen wish list.
The Christmas Bureau is located at the Family Services of the North Shore Community Hub in Capilano Mall, and open Monday-Thursday from 10:00am – 4:00pm.
*At this time we are not accepting donations of gently-used items (clothing, books, household, furniture)*
4. Support our School Engagement program
Become an ambassador for the Christmas Bureau and help us connect with schools across the North Shore. The goal of our school engagement program is to both generate awareness about the Christmas Bureau program so we can help more families this holiday season, and to connect with schools that are looking for ways to support those in need within our community. There are many ways you, your team, school, Grad class, and/or PAC can get involved. For more information please email caringschools@familyservices.bc.ca
5. Support our pre-loved bikes for families program
Each fall our partner, Obsession Bikes, collects donations of used bikes to fix up for safe riding. The Christmas Bureau then identifies local children and families who need bikes and matches them with refurbished two-wheelers (along with brand-new helmets). Donations of bikes in good working condition can be dropped off at our Community Hub. For more information email christmas@familyservices.bc.ca
Volunteer with the Christmas Bureau
While our volunteer programs run year-round, the Christmas Bureau is the time of greatest need. If you would like to volunteer with the Christmas Bureau or another Family Services of the North Shore Program, you can learn more here.
Visit the Christmas Bureau at the Community Hub
The Christmas Bureau is located at the Family Services of the North Shore Community Hub in Capilano Mall, 943 Marine Drive, 2nd floor, North Vancouver. The entrance is on the upper floor of the former Sears department store via the P2 parking garage off Hanes Avenue (look for the four brightly coloured doors and Family Services of the North Shore signs along the far west wall).