Christmas light display 'puts the Griswolds to shame'

It's a Christmas light display that neighbours say "puts the Griswolds to shame," a reference to the classic holiday film National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation.

But as CBC's Marc Apollonio reports, the display benefits more than just the people who come by for the spectacle (click on the image above to watch Marc's story).

North York couple Pat and Amatore DeSario began setting up the display 14 years ago.

The holiday lights take nearly two months to set up and it costs the couple about $1,200 to run for just over a month.

It's an over-the-top display that features thousands of lights, penguins, Santas and snowmen.

Families drive from all over the GTA to see it, and while it's a great show, it's also for a good cause.

Amid the lights is a collection box for the Sick Kids Hospital foundation.

In the fourteen years they've been doing this the DeSarios have raised nearly $110,000.

Pat says the couple developed a connection with the hospital when their daughter was young and diagnosed with juvenile diabetes.

"It's just our way of giving back to Sick Kids hospital for everything they did for us."