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I’ve now delivered the toys for the toy drive, you can see the pics of the
delivery HERE
A toy drive tale.
When Columbia disintigrated over Texas, towns like Lufkin were littered with
parts, and participated greatly in the clean up. Well, towns like Lufkin were
decimated by Hurricane Rita, and NASA was hell-bent in returning the favor.
Calling up their resources, and bringing in help from the Salvation Army, NASA
went in force to help those poor folks out.
Enter Captain Libby of the Salvation Army.
Captain Libby was shipped down from Seattle to help consult NASA on where to
help best. As our community has close ties with NASA ourselves, and my neighbor
worked directly with him, she gave me his cell number to call for advice.
So I called and asked for some advice. I asked where the best place would be to
donate these sets from the toy drive to the the children victims of the
hurricanes.
His answer?
Drive them to Lufkin and the camps there. Now, I’m all for helping out those in
need. I’ve spent over $100 in gas and over 30 hours of my time searching,
collecting, buying, gathering and begging for sets for this toy drive. But a
three hour (one way) trip though still hurricane devistated areas is a bit much,
even for me.
He said I could give the toys to a local place in hopes they could transport
them for me, but their infrastructure was so clogged with sending dire needs
(food, water, etc.) that it would probably be a while before they could move the
toys.
So I went and began calling local Salvation Army centers.
I spent a good hour, hour and a half playing phone roulette with the Salvation
Army.
I called the contact Bruce had given me. The lady on the other end of the phone
spoke with really broken English, and she seemed to understand me about as much
as I could understand her.
So I called my nearest donation center, asking where would be the best place to
donate the sets for the hurricane victims. They dealt mainly with food and
water, toys weren’t needed. But the command center might have a better answer
for me, so I was told to try there.
I was sent to the command center, downtown. After much passing of this potatoe,
I was finally forwarded to a voice mail box of someone, I didn’t know who, and
left a message about the toy drive.
A few minutes later I was called back with a woman who finally gave me the
address of a warehouse dedicated to helping out hurricane evacuees right here in
Houston. But really, toys weren’t needed, food, water, clothes, those were the
things in need. I was then sent to another woman who tried to sell me in
donating the toys to a Christmas toy drive the Salvation Army does with Toys for
Tots.
Now I remember Felix Greco or Joe Meno (too tired/lazy to check) saying
something about trying to do something with Toys for Tots anyway, so I wasn’t
quite keen on this idea.
First of all, the Salvation Army Christmas toy drive helps everyone. Helping
everyone is great, but I was charged in donating these sets to the Hurricane
victims. Again, helping everyone is key, but these weren’t my sets to hand out
willy nilly.
Secondly, the toys that I would be donating would be ‘back up’ toys. The
Salvation Army sets up all these trees with the names of needy children and what
toys they want. People come by, pick up the names (written on paper angels) and
go off to be Santa Claus. But some people pick up names and never do anything.
That’s where these ‘back up’ toys would come in, filling in the gaps where
people forgot or neglected to help out.
Once again, a nobel gesture, but not what I was charged in doing. I was given
donations, in good faith, to be given to hurricane victims, not in three months,
but now.
So I resolved myself to go to the warehouse. They may only want water and food,
but I was bound and determined to donate these sets to those in need. I would
hand them out in person if I had to.
The Salvation Army warehouse distribution center was actually an old abandoned
Wal-Mart. It was actually the same Wal-Mart I used to work at. For a moment,
while driving up, I thought the Wal-Mart had moved back in (which made no sense,
cause they moved one block down into a new building in the form of a super
Wal-Mart), the parking lot was full!
Full of people looking for help.
Hundreds of people, in a snaking line under a small tent waiting to enter the
building in hopes of bringing out a shopping cart full of food, water and
clothes.
So many people, in fact, that it took me a good twenty minutes to find someone
who was actually with the Salvation Army.
I asked where I was to take donations, and he pointed me to what used to be the
front door of the garden center. He then asked what I was donating, and I told
him toys from a toy drive. He then corrected himself and told me I had to go
around to the back of the building, where I would be taken care of.
Great. I was beginning to think I was going to have to start ebaying these sets
off in order to donate the money raised from THAT.
But I drove around to the back of the building anyway, to the loading docks. I
parked to the side and got out, where two men began walking towards me from the
entrance. I asked if I was in the right place to drop off donations, and I was
directed to back my truck up to the dock.
So I did just that, and then hopped out of my truck and began unlocking the bed
cover and tailgate.
“So what’s in here?” the man asked me.
“I helped host an online toy drive,” I replied, lifting the bed cover and
dropping the tailgate.
The man paused, looking at the boxes in my bed.
“That is beautiful!” he said with the biggest grin on his face.
It turns out HE was in desperate need of toys. Apparently they’ve got all this
food and water and clothes, but the kids are going without. Hundreds of kids
going in and out of the warehouse, spending hours in line, having nothing to do
before, during or after.
This man was so genuinely greatful, it really rekindled my spirit of helping
this toy drive out.
And when I continued to bring out even more sets from the cab of my truck (as I
put the bags in there so they wouldn’t fall over and spill), he was really
impressed.
“Keep em comin’” was his comment, over and over.
In fact, while I was there, his co-worked began loading the toys on a pallette
for *IMMEDIATE* distribution to the people outside.
The
happy man I dealt with.
His
co-worker loading the toys onto the pallette.
He then told me that they’d be there for another two or three weeks, and if I
had any more to please bring them on by.
Now I’ve already had one straggler package arrive today (hours after I dropped
the toys off), and his comment, and seemingly sincere need for more toys made me
decide to make one last plea.
If you are just now discovering the toy drive, or feel guilty for not
participating before, now is your chance. I’m giving you ONE WEEK to get your
donations to me. I’m willing to make another run over there, but they need the
help now, not later.
So if you have sets you want to donate, email me. I’m not asking for 4 foot
tall boxes brimming with bricks, just one or two unopened sets would do fine.
If you have money you want to be used to purchase sets to be donated, email me.
But be warned I’ve already sucked this town pretty dry (but there are still a
few things still worth getting).
If you don’t participate in the Toy Drive, please, find another way to do so.
These people number in the millions, and they need all the help they can.
--Anthony
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Message has 1 Reply:
 | | Re: Hurricane relief toy drive
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| Well, only 5 days left till the deadline, and I've got two people who've contacted me wanted to donate. Of all the websites I've posted at, of the THOUSANDS of AFOLs that have had the opportunity to read my posts, I've had a total of almost thirty (...) (19 years ago, 10-Oct-05, to lugnet.general, FTX)
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Message is in Reply To:
| | Hurricane relief toy drive
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| Hey all, Thank you to everyone who participated in the Hurricane Relief Toy Drive, and especially to Anthony Sava who has gathered these sets, bought other sets with money he was sent, and is bringing these for distribution to displaced families. (...) (19 years ago, 6-Oct-05, to lugnet.announce, lugnet.general, FTX) !!
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