The local Kiwanis Club has once again been able to brighten the holiday season for disadvantaged kids in the Cochrane area, with the help of very generous donations from the community.

Yesterday marked their fourth annual Christmas Toy Project initiative. Cochrane Kiwanis Club President, Ron Gosselin says the event was a big hit and over 100 kids were treated to a holiday celebration with all the bells and whistles.

"It was fun to see the smiles on the faces of these kids that were allowed to just go shopping for their own toy," explains Gosselin. "They also had pictures with Santa, they had treats, a teddy bear and all kinds of good stuff."

Gosselin says that the event has grown significantly over the past four years.

"We started four years ago with 53 kids," explains Gosselin. "The second year we had about 97, the third year -- last year we had 123, and this year was one in 141."

With the help of Cochrane FCSS, local families in need of assistance were identified, and Gosselin says that all 141 kids were brought to the Cochrane Walmart location and given a $40 gift card to shop for their own toy.

He says not only did the kids get to hang out with the big guy in red, but they also had some local stars help them pick out their toys.

"The kids were also accompanied by the players of the [Cochrane] Generals to do their shopping," explains Gosselin. "The kids always like that particular relationship, because they see these guys as kind of their star athletes. Another highlight that happened is that the families were invited to the game of the Generals last night."

Mayor Jeff Genung and Town Councillors Marnie Fedeyko and Susan Flowers were also at this year's event. 

Gosselin credits the Town of Cochrane, the Totem Foundation, Spray Lake Sawmill and The Calgary Hitmen for helping to pull off another successful Christmas Toy Project and he says they'll be doing it again next year.