As the holiday season approaches, organizations in Columbus will begin collecting toys to give to underprivileged children.
Columbus Police Department will take applications for the city’s annual toy drive until noon on Thursday. Parents or guardians can visit the Municipal Complex from 8 a.m. to noon each day, starting today, to apply.
“We protect and serve, so this is the part (of our job) that we like to give back,” Community-Oriented Policing officer Rhonda Sanders said.
Every year CPD gives presents to hundreds of children within the city limits, thanks to proceeds from fundraisers like the CPD Haunted House and toy donations from businesses and private citizens.
Last year, the toy drive served about 375 kids, Sanders said.
For the past two years, Sanders said the Columbus Municipal School District has partnered with police to help raise toy donations.
“Since the school system has gotten involved, the toy drive has really grown,” Sanders said.
Sanders said school district Superintendent Philip Hickman encourages a friendly competition between principals as to which school can provide the most toys.
Starting in late November, boxes will appear in schools and banks where people can drop off brand new toys.
There will also be a box to leave toys in the Municipal Complex, Sanders said. She specified she wants donations of new, unwrapped toys only.
“I think once a year, all kids deserve new toys,” she said. “I don’t want to give kids used toys for Christmas.”
Those who want to get involved in the CPD’s toy drive can also pay $50 to help pay for a child’s brand new bicycle from Huffy Bikes, Sanders said.
Angel Tree
But CPD is not the only way area residents can help get toys to kids who might not otherwise get them.
Starting Friday, the Salvation Army will set up its Angel Tree in Leigh Mall.
More than 300 children are already signed up to receive gifts from the Salvation Army’s Angel Tree, said Salvation Army Major Cheryl Phillips.
Those children will each get their own tag, which has their first names, ages, gender, clothing sizes and toys they specifically want for Christmas. Those tags will then hang on the Angel Tree at the Mall for shoppers to take and begin shopping for the children.
“People love when they know what the child likes,” Phillips said. “That makes it really special. People enjoy it because it’s such a personal way to help a child.”
In addition to the Angel Tree, the Salvation Army will work with businesses to “adopt a family” — put together Christmas for needy families — and hold a campaign in which people can fill stockings with toys for children. Phillips said people have already stopped by the Salvation Army on 2219 Main Street to pick up stockings to fill.
The Salvation Army and CPD will coordinate to ensure there is no duplication of names on the toy lists of each organization, Sanders said.
The Salvation Army took applications for the drive in September, but families who missed it can still apply for the CPD’s toy drive this week.
Applicants for CPD’s drive must present picture identification, proof they live within the city limits (such as a utility bill), their child’s Social Security card or birth certificate and an official document proving custody, such as a school insurance card.
“We want to be able to give kids something, give them ownership of something — something nice, something to have pride in, something their own,” Sanders said.
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