Toys for Tots gives gifts to 933 children

    Peachtree – Cherokee County Toys for Tots organizers may have found a new way of doing things.
    To make this year’s distribution safer for everyone involved, the national foundation suggested to local coordinators that it be set up as a drive-through. One volunteer in Murphy suggested something like a retail store’s grocery pickup, and the group ran with it.
    Murphy Police Chief Justin Jacobs and two officers – Sgt. Ryan Cunningham and Hunter Sanders – helped direct traffic with Glendon Gale and Rodney Sellers. Vehicles were lead around the parking lot to volunteers handing families forms, then asking them to park in one of six spaces. At those spaces, volunteers from Tri-County Early College High School’s Beta Club were waiting in teams of two to take the forms that helped them find the bags of toys to bring to the car.
    Local coordinator Barbara Hudson said distribution went smoothly, even during early Friday morning, when it’s typically most hectic.
    “We’re going to learn some lessons from this,” she said.
    Hudson added she would get feedback from families on how they felt distribution went before planning for next year. Distribution held was Friday and Saturday.
    The organization served 933 children in 341 local families, she added. Including other projects, Toys for Tots served about 1,088 children total this year.
    Hudson said they couldn’t have helped so many children without the community’s support.
    “Our community has been unprecedentedly generous this year,” she said. “It’s really been off the charts.”
    Types of toys given out depended on age. Younger children received items like electronic learning toys, trucks and dolls, while teenagers got items like ear buds, bath sets and electronic games.
    “We wiped out Walmart of Barbies and Legos,” Hudson said.
    Each child registered also got a book, and Hudson carefully selected each title herself.
    “I hope they are titles the kids really enjoy,” she said.
    Jacobs was happy to volunteer his time, as were the two officers who volunteered with him. They were asked for assistance with getting families in and out of the former Emerson building parking lot safely.
    “We’ve known all the volunteers for years,” Jacobs said.
    He said Toys for Tots often gives the police department small toys to be given to children at the scenes of domestic situations and car crashes. Gale has been volunteering with Toys for Tots since 1998.
    “It’s a great cause,” Gale said. “You look forward to it all year long.”