Moses Lake Food Bank toy distribution set for Dec. 14

MOSES LAKE — Moses Lake Food Bank officials are soliciting donations of money and toys to help ensure as many kids as possible have a present under the Christmas tree. Registration for “Operation Friendship” is open, with the toy distribution scheduled for Dec. 14.

Parents can register at the food bank during business hours, 11 a.m. to 2:45 p.m. Monday through Thursday. Distribution is for Moses Lake families only, and advance registration is required. Each family will receive toys for two children.

Food bank director Peny Archer said everything that’s donated for the toy drive is spent for the toy drive. “One hundred percent of the toys and monetary donations for toys is spent in Moses Lake.”

Volunteers help sort toys and do the work on distribution day. Individuals and community groups, from the Unchained Brotherhood motorcycle club to students and faculty at Big Bend Community College, solicit toy donations, raise money and buy toys.

The food bank is focusing on toys for kids up to 12 years of age, Archer said – and usually there are fewer donations for kids in the 10 to 12 age range. People don’t always know what to buy for kids that age, she said. Board games, project kits such as jewelry making or science experiments and sports equipment like basketballs were among the items donated for that age group in 2018.

Donations should be new toys, in the $10 to $20 range, and must be unwrapped. Archer said those conditions are the result of past experience.

People have donated inappropriate items, she said — one year a Scrooge donated a black rock, like a lump of coal. The food bank has received some broken used toys, which must be weeded out before distribution. In addition, parents and organizers have to make sure toys will work for the child’s age and gender, and will fit with any disabilities.

The $10 to $20 suggestion comes from the idea that it’s better to have a lot of relatively inexpensive toys rather than one or two expensive toys. “We’d rather have six $10 toys than one $60 toy.”

Any money donated goes to buy toys. “We do have shoppers that go shopping and buy toys.” Archer has been one of the toy shoppers, and it’s a pretty fun gig, she said. “When you find something cool, you buy eight of them.”

Checks should be made out to the Moses Lake Food Bank, and can be mailed to PO Box 683, Moses Lake. Donations also can be dropped off at the food bank from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Thursday.

The goal is to get every toy donated or purchased into the hands of a kid. “We will distribute toys until there are no toys left.”

Cheryl Schweizer can be reached via email at education@olumbiabasinherald.com.