Ask any member of the Kiwanis; there's nothing like the twinkle of joy in the eyes of a child.

The service club was born out of the desire to change the world, one child at a time, and the local club has just completed the largest of its five signature projects of the year aimed to do just that.

The 7th Annual Kids Toy Project saw 198 youths team up with members of the Cochrane Generals to select their favourite toy with a $50 gift certificate at Walmart on Dec. 8. They also received toques, mitts, dental products, treats, a stuffie of their choice.

"Our vision is to put smiles on kids' faces, and that's what happened," says Ron Gosselin, of the Kiwanis.

Photos were also taken with Santa, or, if the kids preferred, the Grinch, who was making his first appearance at the event.

"That particular Grinch was not very bad, he was a funny one, and the kids appreciated that," says Ron Gosselin, of the Kiwanis.

This is the sixth year the Cochrane Generals have helps at the Kiwanis Kids Toy Project.

Gosselin says all in, it's about an $11,000 project.

"This thing doesn't happen without a lot of collaboration from a lot of people," says Gosselin. 

He says besides the club's own fundraising initiatives, like their recent trivia night, the Totem Foundation makes a major donation and additional assistance is provided by Tim Hortons, Walmart, and the Cochrane Generals. Others, like the SLS Centre, were drop-off locations for those donating toques, mitts and such. The stuffies were provided by the Calgary Hitman from their annual teddy bear toss game.

"We probably spend something like 250 volunteer hours to put it on and it is our major signature project for the year," says Gosselin. "We have another four, but they don't have the same impact as this particular one."