Final Details for Toys for Tots

One Large Pile of Toys

One Large Pile of Toys

The final touches for toy distribution took place at Lincoln School this past Saturday, December 20, as Darlene Lopez and her volunteers sorted the gifts into bags for distribution throughout Lamar and Prowers County on the 24th.

Loading Up to Make A Run (Courtesy Photo: Susan Crites)

Loading Up to Make A Run

The toy room has stacks of bagged toys in one corner and all four walls are lined with four or five foot tall boxes, filled with assorted gifts.  These are marked by age groups and gender for girls or boys.  The tricky part comes when the volunteer takes a 30 gallon trash bag which has been pre-marked with a list detailing what kinds of toys they’ll select to fill the bags.  Lopez said she’s been doing this for years now, but always gets a pain in the pit of her stomach that something will happen or go wrong.  Somehow, though, it all seems to work out.

Walls Are Lined with Boxes

Walls Are Lined with Boxes

One volunteer follows another in a walking assembly line, reading off the list taped to their bag.  One big box is filled with balls of all kinds, kick balls, basketballs, footballs, soccer balls and almost every bag gets one or even two.  “We still have to stretch to find gifts each year for the hardest category, and that’s young teenage boys,” Lopez explains.  Some sports items will work, but as no clothes are used for gifts, it’s difficult to find something appropriate.

Checking the Lists

Checking the Lists

Once the bag has been filled from the list, it’s sealed and placed in the hallway at Lincoln School, ready for the next step in the process, making it ready for distribution.  Lopez has followed a set of logistics that have been used for over 20 years and she’s developed some of her own ideas.  It’s easier, though, for those making deliveries, to concentrate in two or three blocks where their recipients live, instead of hop-scotching all over the town, wasting time, energy and gas.

Volunteers Getting their Route

Volunteers Getting their Route

All the gift bags and bikes are moved to the gymnasium by the 24th for pick up.  Since 5am that morning, Jason and Amber Herrera have been cooking the Christmas dinner.  Ham, turkey, mashed potatoes, dressing, green beans and gravy are put into Styrofoam containers to accompany the gifts.  “We cooking about 1,240 meals,” Herrera said, as he was switching one empty tray of food for a full one along the assembly line.  By 10:30, they were less than halfway home.  Lopez barely had a minute to talk as she was directing the flow of volunteers, but confirmed that there were more families this year than last.

Toys for Tots Dist 2014 (1)

“We had around 900 requests last year and this time, we’re up to around 1,230 so there have been more,” she said.  The extra requests also mean more time spent in assembling the gifts and meals and a few more stops for the volunteers.  There are some snags, one or two addresses don’t always match or a house is now vacant with no one to deliver to.  Lopez takes it in stride.  She knows it’s happened before and it’ll probably happen again next year.  By mid-afternoon, the rounds have been completed, there’s some general clean-up to be done and then she and her helpers can enjoy their holiday and some well-deserved rest.

By Russ Baldwin

 

Filed Under: communityCountyEconomyEventsFeaturedFestivalGranadaHistoryHollyLamarProwers CountySportsWileyYouth

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