Retaining parents dignity and making Christmas bright, that’s what the Renton Salvation Army did with the help of the community for another successful toy drive Dec. 21.
Parents and a few small children lined up outside of the former LA Fitness building in downtown Renton, waiting for their chance to choose from the toys collected by the Salvation Army starting at 9 a.m., Tuesday morning.
About 986 families were registered to take part in the toy and food giveaway, with 1,000 total expected from walk-ins later in the day.
This year it was harder for the Salvation Army to get toy donations from the community, but luckily they had more corporate support from Wizards of the Coast, that is owned by Hasbro.
“It was hard to get toys, but we were very grateful that Hasbro traditionally has given us 4,000 toys, this year they wanted to give us as many as possible,” said Captain Terry Masango. “So they gave us 10,000, so that really gave us a great start and also is the backbone of what’s going on today.”
Wizards of the Coast has donated toys to Salvation Army for the past 5 years. They had 43 volunteers from the company for the set up and distribution day.
“Community and family is really important to Wizards, it’s important to Hasbro and so we continue to do this because we’re a toy company and children and families are our business,” said Mark Jessup, director of marketing communications at Wizards of the Coast.
The Salvation Army tried to keep the pace of the giveaway at about 90 families moving through the line every 30 minutes. They were helped by about 60 community volunteers on the floor. Up to 100 volunteers were expected to participate before the giveaway was over.
For Renton resident, December Holiday the presents were much needed. She is currently unemployed with three daughters; her fourth daughter died of an apparent suicide last year.
“I’ve never done this before, so this is really cool, I needed it,” Holiday said.
She said without the support of the program, her family would just be at the house not doing anything. A neighbor in her apartment building told her about the Salvation Army giveaway.
“I’m not working full-time anymore so thank God, this is here,” Holiday said.
The program also came just in time for Nikki Anderson of Renton, who is currently collecting unemployment. She has a 5-year-old daughter and a 5-month-old son. If it wasn’t for the Salvation Army, Anderson said she would have to borrow money for presents or find some other charity program.
“I got a few presents for them, but not you know…I feel bad I don’t have enough to give them,” Anderson said.
She feels that the program is a good one and that while people may feel bad they don’t have the money to buy presents, they shouldn’t feel bad to use the Salvation Army’s support.
“By the time the families walk out, as you can see, we have about two helpers per each family helping them carry these heavy bags filled with toys and food,” Masango said.
The Salvation Army also had more than 300 families in their Adopt-a-Family program this year.
