VICTORIA -- Over the last six years, U-Lock Mini Storage in View Royal has made a donation valued at more than $70,000 to CFAX Santa’s Anonymous Society.

The storage facility has provided three storage lockers to the Greater Victoria children’s charity as an in-kind donation. The lockers allow Santa’s Anonymous to store toys and other items that help families in need in an emergency.

“A gift in-kind can actually allow Santa’s Anonymous to give more to children,” said CFAX Santa’s Anonymous executive director Christine Hewitt. “With this gift (from U-Lock Storage) we can accept gifts that we really need, like 100 bikes, we can put them into storage at any time of the year.”

Hewitt says having access to things that children need, like bicycles, means they can be out riding them and enjoying a healthy activity. She says having immediate access to the stored items means they can respond quickly when a family is left with little after a disaster, such as a fire.

“These are the instances where a gift in-kind is priceless,” said Hewitt. “We work through the year and today we are making sure kids who lost everything in a fire will have new bikes.”

Brenden Kelly was tasked with picking up new bikes and toys for his children. The father of three says when fire tore through their Saanich home on March 6, his children’s toys and bicycles were destroyed.

“Trying to pick up the pieces and move forward with three kids is (a situation) we never thought we’d be in,” said Kelly. “Explaining to them that they are getting new bikes and everything they lost will be replaced, the smile is bigger than I think Christmas.”

The staff at U-Lock Storage say helping others is part of the company’s culture.

“It's very satisfying as an organization to see the help going out in the community, to see what we do for individual families,” said U-Lock facility manager Donna Fraser.

“It just fills our hearts knowing that more donations can go out into the community after our in-kind donation to CFAX Santa’s Anonymous,” she said.

Hewitt says if it wasn’t for in-kind donations from U-Lock Storage, the charity wouldn’t be able to help as many families and children's organizations during the Christmas season and throughout the year.

“If we didn’t have the storage space we wouldn’t have been be able accept the gift of bikes,” said Hewitt. “This is a great opportunity to keep giving back and take care of the families that need it the most.”

To learn more, or to make a donation, go to the CFAX Santa’s Anonymous website.