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What a tremendous year! In Partnership with the ministry “Together We Can Make A Difference”, 4507 children were gifted with free toys this holiday season. One thousand five hundred families received gift baskets containing personal care items of soap, shampoo, bathroom tissue, toothpaste, toothbrushes and etc. We distributed 3815 Christmas stockings, 505 baby blankets, 300 bracelets, 1000 hats and 1300 dolls as well as scarves, gloves and mittens, each of them handmade with love.
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To accomplish this feat required the time and hard work of many groups and individuals. Throughout the year thrift store employees and volunteers coped with an ever-growing mountain of donated toys. In June the youth group of St. Catherine’s church spent the day in our basement sorting donated toys. Barbie Oakam and Janet Burtch spent months cleaning, refurbishing and dressing dolls. Virginia De Forest and Linda Foster washed and repaired stuffed toys. Dawn Williams and her helper elves made hundreds of gift baskets. When we ran out of baskets we sent a SOS out to our Flint store and they responded with 400 additional baskets. In October and November church and school groups held toy donation drives as well as sorting and cleaning those donations. While many new toys were donated some required TLC. Toys had to be tested and batteries installed. A crew installed shelving at the “Make a Difference” (MAD) house and others set up the store and stocked shelves. Miss Elaine Rogers spent many hours sorting small toys and bagging up stocking stuffers. Throughout it all MAD house director Wendy Wight maintained her cool and sense of humor.
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The toy store opened on Friday, November 28. By noon the line of shoppers stretched down to the street. By the time the store opened at 1:00PM the line had reached the City of Zion Ministries. Some shoppers waited in line for almost three hours. That first day 475 children had been gifted with toys. Margaret and David spent hours outside in freezing weather leading shoppers in Christmas caroling. Mary Scott and Linda Foster stood at the door day after day reciting the rules for shoppers. Dozens of volunteers continued cleaning, sorting and stocking the shelves until closing day, December 19. Three hundred and fifty stockings were filled for the families of homeless Vietnam Veterans from the Detroit area. These families also received coats, hats, socks, underwear, personal care bags and food. Remaining toys were packed up and trucked to the Church of Christ of Jackson for their Christmas toy giveaway. Altogether 96 churches, schools and organizations helped to make Christmas brighter for Jackson’s needy children.
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On Saturday, December 28 a thank you dinner was held at Queen of the Miraculous Medal school cafeteria. Connie Kemler cooked chicken for 150 while others bought potatoes, vegetables, rolls and desserts. Door prizes were given to each attendee.
The Priceless Gift Toy Store would not exist without the continued help of each of you who contributed to the store through your donation of toys or time. Each year we have seen an increase in number of children served by over one thousand. This year we had an increase of over 1400. If you would like to help make the Christmas season brighter for the children of Jackson’s needy in 2009 please consider donating your time or resources to the Priceless Gift Toy Store. Please contact Wendy Wight of Together We Can Make a Difference at 740-8444 or David Kemler at St. Vincent de Paul at 784-0721.
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