By Mary-Justine Lanyon
Happy elves were busy wrapping gifts in the social hall at the Lake Arrowhead Community Presbyterian Church on Friday, Dec. 19. Those gifts – 468 of them – were going to 156 mountain kids in 60 families to help make their Christmases merry.
This was the seventh year the Mountain Kids Toy Drive – coordinated by Josh Wade Luker, Kara McGinley and Kelli Welzel – has put out the call for families to submit their requests for toys and other gifts for their children.
“That is what makes this toy drive different,” McGinley said. “We give the children the gifts their families have requested.” Luker added that “we want to give the children what they want.” This was the biggest toy drive to date, he said.
As McGinley and her helpers divided the toys into groups by family, the elf volunteers wrapped them, labeled them and put them into bags for each family. Christmas music played in the background, adding to the festive atmosphere.
Each child gets at least three gifts. Those gifts included bicycles, backpacks, footballs, basketballs, stuffed animals, books, games, art sets, socks, hats, gloves, cosmetics, toy cars, Barbies and more.
The volunteers included children as well as adults. When asked why he was helping out, one boy said it “was the right thing to do.” As for how it made him feel, he said he was happy to be helping other children.
The families picked up their wrapped presents on Saturday, Dec. 20.
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