Toy Drives Are Ramping Up to Help Community Children
The CPD, the Salvation Army, and other organizations are all working hard to get their respective toy drives in gear to provide a little something special for an unprecedented number of children this Christmas. Read on to see how you can help out!
Courtesy of The Dispatch —
CPD Toy Drive
The Columbus Police Department has been taking applications for the annual Toy Drive recently, and will soon be putting out donation boxes in which donors can place new, unwrapped toys. Those who wish to apply to be recipients have until Noon Thursday to come to the Municipal Complex to do so. Applicants for CPD’s drive must present picture identification, proof they live within the city limits (such as a utility bill), their child’s Social Security card or birth certificate and an official document proving custody, such as a school insurance card.
“We protect and serve, so this is the part (of our job) that we like to give back,” Community-Oriented Policing officer Rhonda Sanders said. She reports that they were able to give out toys to roughly 375 kids last year, thanks in large part to the CMSD’s becoming involved with the project two years ago: “Since the school system has gotten involved, the toy drive has really grown,” she said.
Beginning in late November, schools, banks, and the Municipal Complex will all have donation boxes in place. Those who want to get involved in the CPD’s toy drive can also opt to pay $50 to help pay for a child’s brand new bicycle from Huffy Bikes, Sanders said.
Angel Tree
Rhonda Sanders, left, and Cheryl Phillips. Courtesy of The Dispatch
More than 300 children are already signed up to receive gifts from the Salvation Army’s Angel Tree, which will be set up in Leigh Mall on Friday, said Salvation Army Major Cheryl Phillips. Tags with the specific items requested will be on the tree, so that shoppers can go and purchase those gifts. “People love when they know what the child likes,” Phillips said. “That makes it really special. People enjoy it because it’s such a personal way to help a child.”
The SA has also been conducting its “adopt a family” program, as usual, where businesses help to provide a Christmas for needy families, and community members can stop by the SA office at 2219 Main Street to drop off new gifts and pick up stockings to fill.
The Salvation Army and CPD will coordinate to ensure there is no duplication of names on the toy lists of each organization, Sanders said.
“We want to be able to give kids something, give them ownership of something — something nice, something to have pride in, something their own,” Sanders said.
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