Two toy drives benefiting Toys for Kids were held Wednesday by Wendlee Broadcasting’s The Breeze and KOXE. Rainy weather did not dampen the spirit of giving as many came with toys and money donations filling trailers.
Wendlee Broadcasting was set up in the Bank of America parking lot on Main Street and KOXE held their drive at their station on Carnegie.
On Main Street, members of the Texas Army National Guard started the morning off with a Hummer full of toys. Businesses and individuals came by to drop off cash and toys throughout the day. Donations ranged from spare change to a donation for $6000 (Toys for Kids largest donation ever) received by Wendlee Broadcasting, which brought their total at the end of the day to $8400 in cash and three trailer loads of toys.
At Carnegie, approximately 1300 toys were gathered along with $7100 in cash by KOXE. According to Carl Wayne at KOXE, “It was a tremendous day.”
“We brought in the three trailers full of toys and unloaded and unloaded,” said Ben Cox radio personality on The Breeze. “To see the glimmer of excitement in the Toys for Kids volunteers’ eyes as we brought in the donations, well that is just a slice of what area kids will feel like this Christmas.”
Cox stated that the response from the community was amazing, showing their support for area children this Christmas.
Founder of Toys for Kids, Wanda Thacker Martin was overwhelmed by the generosity as well.
“It was wonderful. Having both radio stations’ toy drives on the same day was great; we got a larger volume of participants because not everyone in Brownwood listens to the same station,” said Martin. “We got a lot more toys and more businesses and people involved.”
Martin explained that other businesses also help throughout the year. For example, Highway Auto employees have $1 taken out of their check each pay period and that the owner matches their donations which came up to $3000 this year.
Organizers of Toys for Kids had stated at the beginning of December that donations were slower this year and that they felt more donations would come in closer to distribution day; however the need is great this year. Toys for Kids has 542 families with 1354 children registered as of Thursday morning. Although official registration is over, Martin stated that families will still come by asking for help; even on distribution day and that they do their best to help those families as well.
According to Martin, there are still a number of needs to fill for this years’ distribution day, which includes:
- Toys for 2 years and under
- Toys for 9-11 year-olds
- Wrapping paper
- Volunteers, especially for Distribution Day—this Saturday, December 17th to help with sorting and wrapping the gifts
- Cash donations to be used to purchase toys and supplies as they are depleted
Toys for Kids is a program that helps make it possible for some area kids to receive Christmas gifts who otherwise would not get any toys. Toy Distribution Day is scheduled for December 17th and will begin around 8:00am and last through 5:00pm. Each child receives three toys through the program so the number of toys needed is huge. To make a donation, for more information, or to volunteer, call Toys for Kids at 325-646-6822.
Pictured above are Army National Guardsmen SSG Noah Crownover, Clay Bowers, Major Jamey Creek, Sgt. Milton Fuentes, Sgt. Noah Williams and SSG Cliff Whisenant. Below: Runaway Train Cafe representatives Brad and Meagan Raschke with Ben Cox at the toy drive.
