Plenty to go around
The amount of registered families was up.But there still was more than enough to go around at the annual Toys for Tots distribution Saturday at Memorial Auditorium. And those who used the program last year got pretty much the same thing this year.
“We try to keep the gift-giving as uniform as possible,” said Toys for Tots co-director Todd Carey. “We had some last minute donations that really helped out. We are a little bit down (in donations), but we don’t want anyone to go without.”
The final registration count had more than 350 families shopping for 740 children, which is a significant leap from the 282 families shopping for 649 children last year. About 15 families were given toys after the initial shopping was done, and the remainder of the toys were donated to Southeast Iowa Community Action, the Homeless Shelter and the Battered Women’s Shelter.
“It’s been wonderful,” Carey said.
Each family was allowed one large toy (like a bike or trike), one small toy, one large stuffed animal, one small stuffed animal, one board game (old favorites such as Operation! and Hungry, Hungry Hippos were on hand), one doll for girls, one ball for boys and four grab-bag items.
According to Carey, the first family arrived to stand in line at 1:15 p.m. Friday afternoon.
“I could not believe it,” he said.
Damien Dukes of Burlington got in line at about 8 p.m. after he got off work from the Hub Towne House.
“I appreciate it (Toys for Tots) for real,” he said while shopping for toys with his girlfriend Wendi Brooks. “When I work as few hours as I do now, it helps add on to what I can buy.”
Brooks was in line before Dukes got there, which was vital to being one of the first shoppers to get a crack at the toys Saturday morning. They made the mistake of showing up at 10 p.m. Friday last year, which is almost like showing up at the last minute.
“We were so far back, we didn’t even have a number,” Dukes said.
Dukes was shopping for his five children, comprised of three girls and two boys. He was looking for anything that had the Transformers and SpongeBob SquarePants logo on it and had already grabbed a remote-control car for his oldest boy.
Dukes said he has suffered through hard times recently, and his homeless status last year forced him to live with Brooks’ mother. That wasn’t the case this year, but Brooks said sleeping in front of Memorial Auditorium Friday night wasn’t fun.
“It wasn’t easy,” he said.
Teri Worthington of West Burlington was shopping for her two boys — 5-year-old Darien and 1-year-old Noah. Darien likes Hot Wheels and Noah … well, he likes volume.
“Noah is into loud stuff,” Worthington said.
Worthington arrived at Memorial Auditorium at 5:30 p.m. Friday, although volunteers distributed numbers at 3 a.m. so everyone could take a break.
“It was nice to go home and get warm and get something to eat,” Worthington said.
The only stipulation for those who received numbers was that they had to be back at 7:20 a.m. Worthington was a few minutes late after being held up by a train and feared her number wouldn’t be valid.
“I started crying, and they let me in,” she said. “I was very emotional.”
Samantha Miller of Burlington was picking her gifts for her five boys at home, ranging in age from 1 to 8. Miller was the 12th person in line.
“We had four blankets and were bundled up,” she said.
Her boys want what they see on the TV screen, which means a lot of Spider-man and SpongeBob SquarePants toys. Miller was just grateful Toys for Tots allows her boys to get the toys at all.
“Thank the Lord for this program,” she said.
Marine Corps League volunteer Jesse Howard was decked out in his blues and stood ready to help the parents haul their full shopping carts out the door. Howard volunteered last year as well. He enjoys supporting a program that helps those who may be down on their luck.
“You see people that are really, really trying, and unfortunate things happen,” Howard said. “Bad things happen to good people.”
Families chosen for the giveaway were selected according to Department of Human Services guidelines, and those already a part of Salvation Army or other holiday giveaways were not eligible.
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