Tonight is hamper-packing night for Secreta Santa volunteers and team members.

There will be 800 food hampers filled with essential supplies for local families this holiday season. Volunteers will work to pack over 40,000 pounds of food purchased from Saskatoon Co-Op.

This is the 40th anniversary of Secret Santa, which began in 1983, when Saskatoon radio icon, the late Denny Carr, organized a toy give away for children in need at Christmas. In 2006 food was added to the family hampers.

The Caroling firefighters are also part of the Secret Santa tradition and they’ll be touring local businesses on December 14th singing carols and collecting donations. In addition to other collection points in the city the Saskatoon Fire Department is collecting donations of new, unwrapped toys on behalf of Secret Santa. You can drop off your donation at any Fire Station in Saskatoon. Donations will be collected until December 19th.