Christmas music echoed from a white tent set up in front of Memorial Peace Park early Thursday evening.

And while it may seem quite early for Yuletide sounds, what with Christmas being five weeks away, organizers of the Wrap It Up promotion hoped shoppers were in the spirit of spending and supporting local businesses.

A $5 ticket gave shoppers an opportunity for discounts and specials at participating merchants.

This annual event is open for fundraising by any non-profit group that benefits kids and youth in Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows. The groups registered with the Downtown Maple Ridge Business Improvement Association and then sold tickets, with 100 per cent of the proceeds going to their group.

Tickets were also sold at many of the participating stores, and proceeds from those sales are also distributed to the non-profits that registered with the local BIA.

While numbers were still being tabulated at press time, groups benefitting from the ticket sales for this year's event include:

. Alexander Robinson Elementary PAC;

. Kanaka Creek Elementary PAC;

. Ridge Meadows Hospital Foundation;

. 1st Yennadon Scouts;

. Pitt Meadows Community Foundation;

. St. John Ambulance;

. Friends In Need Food Bank;

. Eric Langton Elementary PAC; and

. Pitt Meadows Secondary's dry grad committee.

A ticket entered shoppers into a draw for spending sprees of $250, $150, or $100 in downtown Maple Ridge, and draws for gift baskets and gift certificates.

Wrap It Up participants included A Paper Notion, Alchemist Hair, Arte Vargas, Bean Around Books, Black Bond Books, Blue Line Sports, Canvas Hair Salon, Crazy About Clothes, Cythera Unique Boutique, Fuller Watson, Haney Home Hardware, Jazz Ma Tazz, Just Ducky, Little Shop of Movies, La Belle Chateau, Lotus & Lemongrass, Maple Ridge Lighting, Monkey Business, Noor's Cuisine, Outer Limits, Panago Pizza, Phil's Engraving, Sector 2814 Comics & Toys, Swirl Wine Store, The Create Shop, The Tumblestone Emporium, and T's.