A toy drive tale

[SavaTheAggie]

I would have posted this as a reply, but I feel it needs its own thread.

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 Megablocks-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.

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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

[SavaTheAggie]

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 whole participants?

Thirty.

Perhaps I need to extend the deadline, but I do not want to extend it too far; these kids need help ASAP. Delivering toys the day before the warehouse closes does no one any good.

My boss, Jim, made an excellent point.

Let's forget the fact that there are kids in need. Let's forget that it's the least we can do for enjoying our peaceful passtime. Let's forget all of that.

This is YOUR chance to give a child a gift that he will remember for the rest of his life.

When the chips were down, when things were their darkest, that child had a small, donated LEGO set. He will never forget that set.

As an adult, he will remember. He will always remember in the darkest moment in his life he had that bright, colorful LEGO set.

And maybe, just maybe, he'll keep that set till he is an adult. And maybe, if the stars line up correctly, that adult will find his way here, to us.

Yes, now is your chance to lay the seeds of future AFOLs.

If nothing else, maybe that idea will spark your interest




To those of you who have donated to the toy drive, thank you so very much.

To those of you who have donated some other way, thank you, too, so very much.

To those of you who cannot donate for personal reasons, may the divine bless you in the future.

To the rest of you... well... I'm not even going to go there.

--Anthony

[cnelson]

Anthony,

Thanks for all your work being point man on this--especially searching for where the sets would do the most good for those affected by the hurricane. And thanks for sharing your experience and the pictures.

While food, water, and shelter may be the most pressing needs, a gift of a Lego set to a child is a start of getting back to the business of being a child instead of a victim.

Carl