‘He just loved Christmas’: Daughter of late paramedic honours his life with CityKidz fundraiser
For as long as Simona Mason can remember, her dad, Doug Mason, was Santa Claus.
Every Christmas for the last 17 years, he would dress up in the bright red suit with white trim, put on a fluffy white beard and hand out candy canes while heading up an annual toy drive for CityKidz - sometimes filling two ambulances with gifts.
He just loved Christmas, he had a rough childhood, so he always wanted to make sure that other kids could experience opening up presents on Christmas morning," said Mason. He loved kids."
This year will be the first that Doug Mason doesn't fill his annual role - the longtime Hamilton paramedic died suddenly on Nov. 5. He was 55.
But, Mason has decided to carry on her father's tradition. Last month, she launched a GoFundMe in hopes of raising $1,500 for CityKidz, a non-profit organization that serves children in Hamilton.
People were sending flowers and those died and ended up not doing anything," said Mason. So I thought, if people wanted to do anything to pay their respects to him, why not make a donation to his favourite charity."
As of Friday, they'd raised $7,500. Due to COVID restrictions, they can't host a physical toy drive, but the funds will take its place and go directly to the organization, she said.
So far, it's been really good," said Mason. They're going to make so many kids happy."
In the years her father would run the toy drive, Mason would often help out. Seeing the ambulances filled to the top with presents and the reactions from kids dropping off donations was inspiring to her.
Little kids would think he was Santa and it made me feel so special that I knew that was my dad; my dad was Santa and that he made all these kids happy," said Mason. It's an accomplishing feeling."
Knowing how important the charity was to her father, Mason said she has agreed to continue on the tradition for as long as she can.
Her GoFundMe for this year will close on Dec. 12, she added.
I've always been just so proud of my dad and I want to continue this memory of him," said Mason. Doing this made him happy."
Fallon Hewitt is a Hamilton-based reporter at The Spectator. Reach her via email: fhewitt@thespec.com