A sizeable crowd gathered at Lansdowne Centre Saturday morning to watch Richmond RCMP’s Chief Supt. Will Ng be plunged into a dunk tank at the seventh annual Richmond Christmas Fund toy drive.
The toy drive began at 8 a.m. at the Lansdowne Centre parking lot and runs until 1 p.m.
Richmond Mayor Malcolm Brodie was the first to take aim at Ng, dunking him in the water with one well-aimed throw.
Ng took the plunge in response to a local sponsor making a $10,000 donation. It’s a chilly send-off as he will be leaving the Richmond RCMP and taking on a new role with the BC RCMP later this year.
Other donors also took a shot at plunging Ng into the dunk tank.
Richmond RCMP partners every year with Richmond Cares, Richmond Gives (RCRG), which runs the Christmas Fund program, to collect toys to help underprivileged families celebrate the winter holidays.
Alvin Chow, a member of the Christmas Fund’s organizational committee and publisher of the Richmond News, said he was enjoying the atmosphere of toy drive and seeing whole families come out to support the event.
“(The mood) is very supportive,” he said. “I think they (the community) understand the need of the Christmas Fund, so they’re really energetic this morning.”
Like every year, people are encouraged to come to the toy drive before it wraps up at 1 p.m., and donate a new, unwrapped toy or make a monetary donation of $10 or more.
Everyone who makes a donation will receive a warm bag of mini-donuts and gummy-filled goodie bags.
