The Michigan Salvation Army Sault Ste Marie Corps believes every child deserves joy on Christmas morning, fulfilling the wishes of over 300 families in its annual ‘Toy Shop’ drive.
Envoys Eric and Denise Gilbert manage the office, jam-packed with members and volunteers.
Mrs. Gilbert extended appreciation to the community for helping to make hundreds of dreams come true this holiday.
“We have been receiving donations for the past two weeks,” Gilbert said. “We got some from the sheriff’s department, banks, Walmart and skating club.”
Several agencies and businesses around town were given ‘Angel Tree’ tags. Anyone could take a tag, indicating the age and/or sex of a child to shop for.
“We had 75 tags hanging on our walls and they are all gone,” War Memorial Hospital Director of Community Relations Jazell Raycraft said. “We will be donating 75 toys to the drive. As a hospital, we like to give back to the community. We have done this for many years. It is a wonderful program that so many benefit from.”
The application deadline for toys was last Friday. Qualifying families who had children under 16 years of age were able to sign up.
According to The Salvation Army website, once a child or senior has been registered and accepted as an ‘Angel,’ their wish list is shared with donors in the community.
“We use the federal poverty guidelines to determine eligibility,” Gilbert said. “Last year, we had over 600 referrals come in from the health department alone.”
Numerous gifts are left over from 2020, which the army will add to this year’s donations. Generous donors delivered several more to the collection last week.
“Donations are going well right now,” Gilbert said.
While the spread of COVID-19 is a concern for many, the corps will take steps to help keep volunteers and visitors safe. Appointments will be scheduled every fifteen minutes, with less than five people at a time.
“It will be set up so that each table has two to three ages on it, separated by gender,” said Gilbert. “Tables are back-to-back, with boys on one side, girls on the other.”
People are asked to wear masks when shopping going through the presents. Gloves are mandatory.
“We will require gloves so not everything gets handled,” Gilbert said.
The envoy was proud to announce zero COVID-19 exposures last year.
Distribution days will be on Thursday, Dec. 16 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Friday, Dec. 17. from 8 a.m. to noon. at the corps building on 132 West Spruce Street, Sault Ste Marie.
For more information, call the Salvation Army Sault Ste Marie Corps at 906-632-6521 or visit its website at http://sasaultstmarie.org/
