This Montreal mother brings the spirit of Santa Claus to thousands of kids, women in need

Ever wondered what Santa's workshop looks like?

Carolyn Bouchard's garage offers a hint.

And her living room. And, at times, even shower.

For the past 20 years, Bouchard has transformed her Notre-Dame-de-Grâce home into a toy drop off to collect holiday gifts for thousands of underprivileged children, women and newcomers in the greater Montreal area.

"At one point, I remember literally almost hyperventilating because I had nowhere to put stuff," said Bouchard, laughing.

"I'd have [gifts for one] shelter in the shower, the other shelters in my hallway closet like piled up … in the garage and everywhere up the stairs … and literally in our room around our bed."

Carolyn's Toy Drive — as the grassroots organization has come to be known —  began when Bouchard and her husband volunteered to collect and wrap gifts for a small list of children as part of an annual mini drive with family and friends.

When the rest of the gang became too busy to continue, Bouchard took over the operation — and not halfheartedly.

"I like to take challenges to a different level and I didn't have kids at the time so I was able to do that," she said.

Two decades and three children later, giving back is Bouchard's full-time job. This year, her toy drive will be supplying presents to more than 4,600 children and 1,700 women living in or connected with 65 shelters and organizations across the city.

"It's so easy to help," she said. "I'm just trying to [help] people help one another."

Personalized presents

As with the real Saint Nick, Bouchard doesn't work alone — she relies on a crack team of elves to make the toy drive possible each year.

Bouchard's next-door neighbour, Sherri Prazoff, is one of her head elves. She began volunteering with the organization seven years ago and is responsible for getting presents to about 400 kids every year.

"It's so nice because now I post in a bunch of different groups [and] people expect to see my e-mail," said Prazoff. "You just begin to build this beautiful community of do-gooders."

And unlike most toy drives, each gift is chosen for a specific child.

Bouchard receives a list from each shelter and organization specifying the age and gender of the children in need of presents.

"We give [people] the option of choosing an age and gender and they buy the gift or e-transferring us money and we buy the gift on their behalf," said Prazoff.

The toys are roughly $25 and drop-off points are located at several homes across the greater Montreal area, from Longueuil to Blainville to Hudson.

Some shelters even give Bouchard an actual wish list from the children, specifying the exact toys they asked for.

Although the identities of the children are not shared with the donors of the gifts, Bouchard says people appreciate knowing their donations are being sent directly to a child in need, and not just sitting in a warehouse.

"They like to be able to choose like a female that's five and then they'll shop with their little girl who's five for something," she said. "It's not just like, 'oh, well maybe they need this' and you're dropping it in a big box and you don't even know if that's really what they need."

For Prazoff, the initiative is an easy way to give back during the holidays.

"You don't know what this little girl or little boy or woman's life is like right now," she said. "They've been uprooted or they're struggling financially ... and Christmas could be very stressful."

"So knowing that we've alleviated a bit of that pressure ... makes my heart happy."

'The world like us needs you,' says gift recipient

Yuphana Kamnuengsuk says the toy drive helped her and her three daughters at a time when things seemed hopeless.

"[It] saved me," she said. "I don't have to worry so much about what I'm going to buy for them."

An immigrant from Thailand, Kamnuengsuk says she came to Montreal in 2013 with limited proficiency in English or French and a psychologically abusive husband who controlled all of her finances.

A messy divorce resulted in her losing her home and, for a brief period, her children. Then, in 2017, she moved into Logifem — a shelter that provides practical help to thousands of women and children escaping abusive or crisis situations.

Four years after leaving the shelter, Kamnuengsuk says she and her daughters still receive gifts from Carolyn's Toy Drive. This year, her children got a makeup kit, a doll, a puzzle and hair accessories. Kamnuengsuk received beauty products.

"I never bought makeup, I always got from Logifem," she laughed.

Kamnuengsuk says Bouchard's toy drive continues to brighten up her Christmases and has saved many mothers like her from the heartbreak of not being financially able to give their children gifts during the holidays.

"The world like us needs you a lot," she said. "You make our world more colourful and beautiful."

Not just toys

While the toy drive is what she's known for, Bouchard does so much more than that, according to Anne Bergeron, communications and volunteer co-ordinator at Logifem.

"She also provides us presents kind of throughout the year for different occasions," she said.

Whether it's a couch for a newcomer, a moving company to help relocate a refugee, food for the shelter or coats for residents throughout the winter — "I ask her and she delivers. It's unbelievable," Bergeron said.

Christella Tchicaya, co-founder of L'acte D'Amour, a shelter that primarily helps women and children newcomers from African countries, says she's blown away by Bouchard, year after year.

"She doesn't want anything in return," she said. "Even during the year, she responds to our needs with food drives, with backpacks in August before school, and during the pandemic, she was the first calling us and saying 'I have masks. Do you need masks?'"

"The number of people she helps, it's incredible."

After all is said and done, Bouchard says she finds the inspiration to keep giving back through her own father, who grew up in an orphanage and never had much — let alone Christmas presents.

"We've been spoiled growing up," she said. "It's just easy for me to continue."