Annual Holiday Toy and Collectors show raising funds for Adopt-A-Vet: 'We've got to give back'

The holiday season is a time for joy, but for many Canadian veterans who are alone, it can be increasingly sad.

That's why the 2024 Holiday Toy and Collectors Show in Windsor not only promises hundreds of unique things under one roof for holiday gift shoppers, but also pledges to support a group that reaches out veterans at Christmas time.2024 Holiday Toy and Collectors Show in Windsor, Ont.

"We've got to give back," stated Adopt-A-Vet founder Brad Krewench. "They give us all the freedoms that we have today and that's the least we can do for them."

Adopt-A-Vet gives veterans who have outlived their family and friends something to look forward to during the holiday season.

Proceeds from the annual charity toy show will go to support the organization that began in 2016.

"We're very grateful that they're helping us," Krewench explained.

"All of our funds go directly to the veterans. We make sure that they have gifts and camaraderie over the holidays as well as we do monuments. We put up a monument in Kings Navy Park in Amherstburg, just representing the first special service course. In some cases, there's areas in the community that don't have the recognition that's needed, so we help them make sure that that recognition happens."

Krewench said the group has helped hundreds of veterans over the years with plans to help hundreds more in the near future.

"Every year it varies," he said. "We reach out to the old folks homes just after Remembrance Day to see who they have in their facilities, because obviously it changes with the age that they're getting to now. I would say every year we do between 80 and 100 veterans and hopefully it continues. But the numbers getting smaller and smaller based on their age. But now the Korean veterans are getting up there and we'll be helping them as well."

According to Krewench, Adopt-A-Vet has expanded beyond Windsor to places like London, Toronto, Edmonton and New Brunswick.

"We didn't think that it would grow as much as it did," Krenwench said. "We're starting to spread across the country. So we're trying to help as many veterans as we possibly can."

He continued, "Seeing the smiles on their faces, there's nothing that can give you that satisfaction. There's nothing that can make you feel what you feel to help somebody that's helped the country as a whole."

The 2024 Holiday Toy and Collectors show takes place Sunday, Dec 8, from 12-4 pm (11 am early bird entry with a $5 donation) at the Caboto Club in Windsor.

Organizer Jeff Kavanaugh told CTV News there will be more tables than ever before packed with toys, Pokémon cards, Hot Wheels, WWE figures, comics, and more.

 

"A lot of the big cities, they get their big Comic-Cons, the Toronto Comic-Con, and Detroit has a Comic-Con and Windsor, they've had a couple of different people take stabs at it. And, I just like having, like, getting the collector community together," Kavanaugh said.

"We're going to have 80 tables in there, which is super exciting as opposed to our regular 35 that we usually have. So I'm excited for that."

Kavanaugh said there will also be special events, contests, door prizes, a Super Smash Bros Tournament, Mack Flash Trivia, and an appearance by WWF Legend & Hall of Famer Tito Santana.

"Hot wheels, Pokémon cards, sports cards, Bratz dolls, stuffed animals. If you can buy it, you can play with it or you can collect it, it'll probably be there," said Kavanaugh.

Admission is $5 for adults, children are free and the entrance is at the side of the Caboto Club.

Kavanaugh added, "While you're in there if you'd like to talk to Brad from Adopt-A-Vet and find out everything there is to know about the charity, he'll be there. And he'll also be accepting live donations. And, you can talk to him about maybe if there's anything else you can do to help those guys out throughout the year."