Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

The View from Wendy's World: Wanted: folks willing to 'adopt' the lcoal angels

As everyone in my part of the world knows by now, there are going to be some changes with this years toy drive. Some of those may be difficult for some people to understand but the toy drive has simply gone past the point of being an effective effort.

Last year was my first year to be involved. Id seen the lists from years past and heard the horror stories and the worries. Last year, the community was fortunate to have someone step in and make the toy drive happen but theres no doubt that this is a monstrous affair. Last year, more than 130 children received toys through the community drive. Following the drive, there were complaints - as Im sure there always will be - from those who felt the money hadnt been well-spent. If you stop and count it up, $10 per child comes to some $1,300. Anyone who hasnt purchased a toy lately should take a quick trip down the toy aisle - any toy aisle. Ten bucks wont go far.

Not to mention the sheer magnitude of bagging, separating and handing out that many toys. Our solution to that this year has been a difficult one. Were only going to promise to serve the first 100 children. I know that there are more than that who have signed up in years past but we simply have to have a semi-manageable number. I hope this to be semi-manageable.

Another problem in years past was matching toys with the children. Its a bit like a giant jigsaw puzzle but one that might (or might not) have pieces missing. As you near the end of the list, there are three 8-year-old boys and all you have left are Barbie dolls. Hmmm.

So you shuffle gifts, move a game to that bag and something else over here and hope you can make it work out. We hope that having the angel tree situation will solve that at least to some degree. Heres how it will work.

Anyone who wants to select a child (or two or five) may do so. Simply drop by the Picayune office, pick up a list and go shopping. The list will include the childs gender, age and a couple of suggestions. Let me stress the word suggestions. The shopper will then pick whatever gifts he or she wants to give that child and package them all in a single bag (a trash bag would be fine) with the form securely fastened to the bag.

Im going to encourage anyone who chooses a child to keep the gifts reasonable. One point about the angel tree concept is that youre buying for one child rather than contributing toys toward a drive. That makes it personal and in some minor way, you - the shopper - can even claim a connection with that child. While its tempting (and I know how tempting) to go ahead and spend $50 for toys for that one child, Im going to ask that shoppers keep the gifts more reasonable and that anyone who feels they can spend that much select two children instead of one so that we can hopefully provide something for all 100 children.

Toys will be distributed during Breakfast With Santa on Dec. 15. We hope to make the distribution at the fairgrounds to make it convenient for anyone who is already at the Breakfast with Santa event.

Ive seen the people of this county pull together for a number of projects. I hope this is another of them.

Look in your hearts, then look around you. If you have something to give, please do so.

Call us at the Picayune office for additional information at 887-2002.