Okay folks, so when we get this close to the show, it gets exceedingly hard to find the time to update the website with all the amazing things that are happening every single day. I’m not complaining, but with over 120 sponsors to still “glad hand” and meet, 78 volunteers to organize and deliver flyers with, 16 cosplayers I’m still chasing down, 12 musicians that I still need to rehearse with for the show, a ton of donation pickups still to do “almost“ every day, all whilst trying to squeeze in enough time to work a full time job, take my boys to steel kettle drum lessons, scouts, tutoring, and regular drum lessons, it's tough to find the time to update both the website AND Facebook, so from now until the show your best bet for daily updates would be to follow us on Facebook.

Thanks for your anticipated understanding!.

Hope to see you at the show.

I just heard from the folks over at Sky Zone that they will be assisting us in our initiative again this year. Thank you Christina.

We just received word from our friends at Stadium Comics. They will once again be collecting toys in a pre-show drop box. Thank you so much Kevin, much appreciated.

We just received confirmation that our friends at Gotham Central will be helping us collect donations in their pre-show drop box again this year. Thanks Carlos. You and your staff are solid gold my friend.

Thanks so much to the folks over at East Side Mario's on Lebovic for helping us out with some passes again this year.

And another sponsor has joined us in our incentive to see that no kid goes without a toy this Christmas. CANADIAN TOYCON will be collecting toys with the help of our favourite heroine from the DC universe. Thank you so much to Steve Buckley at CANADIAN TOYCON, and a huge thank you to our very own amazon princess Wonder Woman for making this happen.

We picked up from the amazing team of Gene and Adrienne on Friday. Gene runs ATOMIC AGE COMICS and his lovely wife Adrienne runs THE FUR FACTOR. These are wonderful people and we are so happy to have them as part of the team.

Thrilled to welcome back a couple of amazing sponsors that collected toys for us in pre-show drop boxes last year. Anytime Fitness and Beyond Kung-FU. Great to have you back! Thanks to Duncan Seton for making this happen.

So excited to tell you about the latest three schools confirmed to help us raise toys for the kids in need. We are extremely excited to have Milne Valley Middle School joining us this year. And both Terraview Willowfield Public School And Clairlea Public School will be returning to help us in our initiative to see that no child (regardless of gender, ethnicity or belief) goes without a toy.

If you've ever heard me use the term "Christmas Angels", then I must have been talking about Carol & Bob Cusson from The Loot Lady. These two have been our longest running sponsor. They have been helping us help kids for thirteen years now. So many times I look upon what we here at The Uncle Neil & Friends Annual Toy Drive have accomplished together as a family and a community and am always drawn back to the fact that if it wasn't for people like Bob & Carol, this show would never have even gotten off the ground. They don't just inspire me (which I'm sure you know they do in spades) but they have inspired many others along the way who have followed their lead. Many have followed their lead with a "If they can donate, so can I" attitude. It's without a doubt my favourite pick up of the year. Stopping in and hanging out with them (even if for only a half an hour) is like the inspirational shot to the arm that'll always see me through this event. Thanks to these two wonderful people for always ensuring that not only the kids have a reason to smile, but that I do too. I love you both. - UN

A great big thank you to Marg and Bill Lowen for their extremely generous donation. Your gifts will make so many children happy again this year.

These are just a few of the many adorable things donated by Marg and Bill Lowen. (I think the big guy is cute too, though I may be a little biased)

We picked up our yearly donation from our friends at Sgt. Splatters Paintball today. Thanks to them we can now be sure that thousands of teenagers will have a chance to experience the joy and carefree fun times that Paintball can offer.
Our kitchen table has both leafs in it, and is fully extended. All four of these boxes are full. We were only able to put one box of cards on the table. This picture just goes to show you absolutely how many passes we were donated today. Four times the amount you see. How amazing is this?

We picked up our supply of pre show drop boxes from our friends at Atlantic Packaging today. Thanks Ruth.

We'd like to welcome aboard our newest sponsor. The good folks at Markham Goodyear will be collecting toys for the kids in a pre-show drop box.

What a great day it has been. The good news just keeps rolling in! Funny Bones has confirmed that they will be contributing some play certificates again this year. Thank you Laurie

Yayyyyy! Thank you the tireless efforts of our one and only Amazon Princess/Wonder Woman, we have a brand new sponsor to introduce you to. Thank you Alfonso and all the folks at Studio.com.ix

We have a new sponsor. Archery District has joined the team and we are thrilled to have them as a part of our initiative to help kids.

We just received confirmation that our friends at Noble Toyz will be helping us collect donations in their pre-show drop box again this year. Thanks Derrick. You're a class act my friend.

Today our donation from Barrie Paintball arrived in the mail. Thank you so much Mike. As always this affords kids (usually teenagers)the chance to enjoy an activity that they otherwise may never have the opportunity to.

We have a brand new drop box location to tell you about. The incredible folks at the Ellesmere Animal Clinic have agreed to collect toys and help us help as many kids as we can this year. Kudos, and thanks so much.

We'd like to welcome our newest sponsor Astley Gilbert to the team. Thanks so much to Rino and of course the lovely Holli.

What a great day it was for the teenagers. Laser Quest (Thank you Rebecca Whitehead, you are solid gold!) has provided us with an incredible ammount of passes this year.

A great big thank you to our amazing friends over at Thunder Graphics. These are the people who privided us with the incredible banners that we use when we go from place to place picking up toys. (See the "Pictures Page" on our website) Well Uncle Neil has created a couple of banners. One to hang over the kids activity area, and one by the front door of the venue. Thanks so much to Sheldon, Brandon, Paul and the rest of this wonderful team. For those wondering what the poem says.
Twas The Night Before Christmas, And All ‘Round The Show
No Music Was Playing, Not Even A Note

The Amps Were On Standby, All Over The Stage
The Guitars Were In Tune, And Ready To Play

There Were Drummers And Singers, And Guitar Players Too
Keyboardists And Bass Players, To Entertain You

There Were Smiles On The Faces, For Everyone To See
Soon We’d Be Rockin’, ‘Round The Christmas Tree

There Were Lots Of Donations, Of Great Christmas Toys
Which Means There’ll Be Plenty, Happy Girls And Boys

Then Up On The Stage, Things Began To Get Groovy
And Even Old Santa Clause, Started To Boogie

With The Strum Of A Chord, And The Beat Of A Drum
The Toy Drive Festivities, Had Finally Begun

The Air Was Filled With Laughter And Song
And Everyone There, Started Singing Along

They Sang Rudoplh And Frosty, And Oh Jingle Bells
And The Entire Place, Was Enjoying Themselves

So From Family And Friends, Guests And Volunteers
Have A Very Merry Christmas, And A Happy New Year

I wanted to take a moment to thank everybody who voted for Mark. We just received word that he won the Toronto Urban Heroes award. Once again it just goes to show that good things can happen when the community rallies behind a common goal. (This time that goal was making sure that this man was recognized for all his good work and his huge heart) Congratulations Mr. Caruana

We would like to thank Monica and the rest of the folks at Boston Pizza (The Scarborough Town Centre location) for going above and beyond in helping us help kids.

Mom and I picked up a bunch of stuffed bears from her fellow Royal Canadian Legion branch 11 member Rose Mooney. Thanks Rose.

Welcome back!
A lot sure has happened since last years show. As you may have noticed, our website has been under construction. We are always striving to bring you the best Toy Drive experience, whether its online or at our event.

We are extremely excited to say that we have a whole whack of new sponsors this year, and our family of volunteers continues to grow exponentially. Our team of Super heroes have already started affirming their presence. We already have the incomparable clown prince of crime That Joker Guy, Spiderman, Iron Man, Wonder Woman, Supergirl, Dr. Strange, The Flash, Groot, and of course one of the fan favourites, and our longest cosplaying member Wolverine. More to be announced in the months to come.

This year, the venue has changed. Our event will be held at The Newfoundlander Tavern, located at 472 Danforth Road. (The corner of Birchmount Avenue & Danforth Road) It is literally just across the street from where we were last year. (Check out our map page)

Our Cookie Lady will be back at her station providing not only smiles a plenty, but many, many, many tasty treats for the kids to decorate and devour.

The incredibly gifted Arnold Trinidad of Spent Pencils will be donating his time, and talent once again as he takes as many requests as possible in the 2 hours that our show runs.

Our number of pre-show drop box locations is growing as well. Every year there are more people with the same goal as ours. And that is to see that no child goes without at Christmas time.

We believe that regardless of gender, religious belief, or ethnic background, every child, should have a toy. We are now in our 14th year still trying to make sure we can help as many children as possible. We've gone from a few friends telling a few friends, to having filled the equivalent of the Sky Dome 5 times.

Thanks for stopping by. Keep checking back as there are all kinds of exciting new things going on this year.