Christmas is coming early at The Stash Luxury Garages north of Okotoks.
Larry and Leslie Stadnick, a local couple who developed and built the garages, are holding a STASH Show & Shine on September 19 to kickstart this year's Christmas Charity Truck campaign.
The Stadnicks launched the Christmas Charity Truck last year and it saw an enthusiastic response, appearing at events like Light Up Okotoks and the High River Santa Claus parade, and being booked for numerous events and functions in the Foothills and Calgary.
“We had numerous appointments or showings at different Christmas parties, people doing toy runs called us to collect the donations at offices throughout the city, it was just wonderful,” says Leslie.
The truck is a red '35 Ford kit truck that was assembled by Stash members and friends of the Stadnicks.
Given its origin and the Stadnicks’ background, they figured a show and shine event would be a pretty effective way to give this year’s Charity Truck campaign a headstart.
It won't be their first show and shine, in fact, they held one back in June that brought in $2246.15 and 764lbs of food donations for the Okotoks Food Bank.
It may seem early to some, but Leslie says that’s very intentional.
"This is a great time to start collecting toys for Christmas because the organizations that put these hampers together for the kids have to start early. They've usually wrapped up by the first or second week of December, so the earlier we can get gifts to them, the earlier they can fulfill their list of families to help out."
Monetary donations are also put to use to purchase toys for the campaign, and Leslie has even been offered at the local Walmart and Canadian Tire locations for the Charity Truck.
Aside from the regular appeal of a traditional show and shine, there will also be a food truck on-site as well as door prizes.
It's scheduled for Thursday, September 19, at 5 p.m.
