“I feel really good about this!”
Words a parent loves to hear when on a family charity outing.
Our daughter said this to us last week as we packed boxes for boys and girls in need in Chatham for Goodfellows.
A night of toy packing for Goodfellows is akin to heading to a mall on the last Saturday before Christmas – the store aisles are jammed with people looking for just the right toy.
OK, there are a few differences. First, the “shoppers” are all smiling and laughing, and the kids for which they “shopped” are nothing more than a gender and an age – anonymous. But regardless of that anonymity, the Goodfellow toy packers go looking through the toys, trying to find the ones they think will best serve that child.
Whether it’s a Hot Wheels set for an eight-year-old boy, or a set of markers and a mini backpack for a five-year-old girl, we volunteers tried to best match the toy with the child.
Each child in a family in need received a hat and mitts and two toys, to ensure no child goes without a Christmas, as the Goodfellows’ slogan says.
Affinity Commercial 02 from Chatham Voice on Vimeo.
The volunteers last week turned out in droves, especially on the Tuesday night. From Girl Guides to army cadets, ringette players, and families, there were dozens and dozens of us out to help. Since it was our first time, we didn’t even know where to go to start, but were quickly pointed in the right direction to get our first box of the night.
On the side of each box is the number of children in the family and their respective ages. Upon picking up a box, we then went to the hat-and-mitten area and then into the big room with aisles of toys.
When we first hit that spot, we had no idea what the layout was for the toys. It looked like toys for girls occupied one long string of tables and toys for boys another, which was the case. But at first we didn’t realize the toys were separated into age groups as well, which certainly increased efficiency.
After our first run around the aisles, we picked up speed. My wife and I started getting a family box each, and our daughter helped us both.
That quickly evolved into us getting boxes, and as we lined up to get the hats and mittens, we sent our girl into the toy aisles to begin picking out toys and games that would make sense for the kids listed on our boxes.
It sped things up immensely. But then again, considering how many people were on hand to help out, I’m not sure that was really needed. In no time, the Goodfellows were running out of boxes for us to fill, and there was a huge pile of filled boxes awaiting final processing.
I’d like to say it was all because we toy packers were so efficient, but rather it was due to our sheer numbers. We overwhelmed both ends of the operation with brute force more so than efficiency.
Our daughter donated a couple of items to the Goodfellows’ cause too. She was ecstatic to see the craft kits get quickly selected by other volunteers to go into their boxes.
When we were finished with our task and headed home, we did so with a sense of accomplishment and pride. We may have made only a small dent in helping fill the need in Chatham, but considering the massive support on hand to pack the toys, we felt like we had helped accomplish a lot in a short time.
And that was just the first night. My daughter and I returned Thursday night to help again. This after a very long day Wednesday by our girl, who had a field trip to the Ontario Science Centre in Toronto, and a cold Thursday early evening delivering her Chatham Voice papers (nepotism) in our neighbourhhood. I gave her the choice – go home and get some rest or head over to Goodfellows, and she jumped at the chance to help others.
So, off we went, armed with a fresh supply of toys on behalf of Canadian Tire Petroleum and The Chatham Voice. These were received with welcome arms, and we learned something valuable that night – the people of Chatham are amazing at donating toys, but in the process overlook stocking stuffers. What we dropped off were small items, including puzzles and such, and they were greatly appreciated.
Thursday’s volunteer numbers were down, but that may have only increased the efficiency, as there was more room to move about. We could quickly fill a box with the desired items, and go back to get a new box.
In no time, the boxes for the night were filled and we were on our way, happy for being part of such a great charity. I’m told about 1,500 kids in Chatham and area will benefit from the week of toy packing.
