Thompson Hotel seeing jovial response to Christmas toy drive for Merritt residents

KAMLOOPS — When the City of Merritt was evacuated nearly a month ago, many headed to Kamloops and took shelter at local hotels.

One of those hotels, the Thompson Hotel downtown, has been hearing the heartbreaking stories from Merritt residents staying there.

It encouraged staff to put together a toy drive for Merritt families ahead of Christmas. General Manager and partner Pav Moore has been collecting unwrapped toys since the flood in November.

“Essentially with the community we had here, the majority of the evacuees were from Diamondvale, so there were teachers staying with us and they were just seeking areas to teach all the children and to get them all together and to bring some spirits up,” Moore noted. “With that idea, we were looking to Christmas and how they’re going to be, where are they going to be celebrating? Were they going to be celebrating here? So we just came together to say ‘we’d love to do something for the children.’”

The Thompson Hotel says the response to its initiative has been great.

“We’ve actually had several companies come forward. Shaw Cable did a larger donation. We also had Hansen Sports, they matched a donation from a family, so they’ve given us quite a bit of supply. Then, just general response from the community has been wonderful.”

The Merritt School District is planning to pick up the toys at the downtown location early next week. If anyone would like to donate, you can drop off an unwrapped toy at the Thompson Hotel anytime this weekend (until Dec. 12).

“It makes us feel essentially part of a community,” Moore said. “I think Kamloops in general is all about community, and to be able to give joy during a time of year at Christmas is a wonderful feeling, but it’s more so for them and bringing them something aside from uncertainty.”