“I don’t know a number on toys but we filled two trailers and three truck beds full of toys and bicycles,” said Stacee Hetzel with Toys for Kids. “There was also over $10,000 in cash donated. Honestly I was so worried and concerned about this year, but after yesterday I was so relieved. I know everyone that signed up is going to get their three items each. This whole year in the back of my head I thought if they get one or two we’re going to be really lucky. Then yesterday I go in there and see bicycles, all these toys, the cash from people who don’t want recognition, they just pull up and hand you money. I don’t a care if it’s a dollar or hundreds of dollars, every bit of that will go to making sure the kids have what they need.”
There are still a couple of items out there Toys for Kids is requesting between now and distribution day.
“The few things still on the special request list include specialty Legos – Batman-themed and one called Friends,” Hetzel said. “The other one that we’ve gotten is a 15-year-old special needs girl that all she wanted is a three-wheeled bike, and that’s one we really want to try and fill for sure.”
The influx of bicycles could lead to an occurrence that has never happened before with Toys for Kids.
“Right now it looks like everybody that asked for a bike could possibly receive one,” Hetzel said. “Normally what we do is take all the bikes we receive, we sort them by size and we go through all the applications and if they requested a bike, we divide how many bikes we have to be appropriate for that kid’s size, and then we draw those numbers out and those are the kids that get the bikes. I think we may be very close to everybody that requested a bike actually receiving a bike. In all of my years of doing this I don’t ever remember that happening.”
Hetzel posted on Facebook late Thursday that a few bikes were still needed to reach the goal:
- 1 – tricycle (boy)
- 2 – 16” (girls)
- 1 – 18” (girl)
- 5 – 24” (girls)
- 4 – 26” (boys)
- 2 – 26” (girls)
Saturday’s distribution day will be run a little different than in years past.
“We always have a set number of families every 30 minutes and when they register they get a business card and they come in in numerical order,” Hetzel said. “The earlier they sign up the earlier they’ll get to come in and pick up their toys. This year we have to space it out a lot more, we don’t want too many families in a 30-minute period just for safety reasons. Saturday morning they’ll start showing up about 7:30. Only one person can come in with the card, that one person can walk through with an elf and pick out their items and as they’re leaving we’ll make sure they have stocking stuffers and wrapping paper. We’re not having wrapping stations this year, we just didn’t think that was a very good idea, but we’re going to send them with wrapping paper.”
With Toys for Kids on pace to again provide a Merry Christmas for families in need in Brown County, Hetzel again wanted to extend her gratitude to the Brown County community.
“I can’t thank this whole area enough for coming together and the outpouring of support and love yesterday was just pretty awesome,” Hetzel said.
To make a cash donation through the mail, the address is Toys for Kids, 2323 Belle Plain, Brownwood, TX 76801. The program accepts donations throughout the entire year.