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There is a familiar refrain on Christmas Day, a hollow mantra uttered through pursed lips by recipients of ugly sweaters and $5 cheques: "It's the thought that counts."
But for Star box recipient Mike Xu, it really is the thought that counts. Seriously.
"We don't care about what items are inside. It gives us hope and we feel warm. This is the most important thing for us, especially as new immigrants. We're new to the country, and it's like saying, `Welcome to the country,'" he said.
Xu and his wife moved to Canada from mainland China seven years ago for a "better future, and to try something different." He spends every Saturday morning with his daughter Rebecca at the Jane Finch Community Centre's Early Years dads' program, where doting fathers stand by as their children do battle with toy dinosaurs and plates of breakfast. He signed up to the Santa Claus Fund in 2005.
"Christmas was approaching and a woman from the (Jane Finch) centre told me there's a gift from the Santa Claus Fund, a Toronto Star box, and I said, `Yeah, why not? I want it,'" said Xu. "I told my daughter, but then we forgot. We didn't take it seriously. Then before Christmas a guy knocked at the door with a big box. I thought maybe something was wrong, that he had the wrong address. And he said `No, it's for Rebecca.' It was a really big surprise.
"Now every Christmas, Rebecca always asks, `Where's the box? Are we going to get the box this year?'"
The 4-year-old hasn't been let down yet, receiving winter clothes, toys, books and candy every year since. In true Christmas form, she's learned to set her standards high this time around.
"I want a beautiful crown. I want to be a ballerina princess. And I want a dress!" she said, jumping up and down.
Xu, who works as a design engineer at a furniture company, said the fund is about more than helping families provide during the holiday season. It also allows him the opportunity to teach his daughter an important lesson.
"I always tell Rebecca, when she grows up we're going to pay back to this community, to society, and to those people who donate those gifts for us. We're going to pay back, because we appreciate it."
If you have been touched by the Santa Claus Fund or have a story to tell, please e-mail santaclausfund@thestar.ca.
