Community
Toy Drive makes Christmas merrier for 975 local children
There was a flurry of activity, as one would imagine at Santa’s Workshop, when volunteers from Gig Harbor Peninsula FISH Food Bank scurried to get ready for shoppers at the Toy Drive shopping days.
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One hundred and fifty volunteers signed up to help for the event on Dec. 16 through 18. Families needing gifts signed up for aid a few months ago, and community members and civic groups answered the call to help make Christmas special for 975 Gig Harbor-area children.
The old Peninsula Gardens site was transformed into Santa’s Workshop, with decorations made by volunteers and students for the FISH Toy Drive shopping days this week. Donations poured in, and volunteers scurried to get tables set up for shoppers. Photo by Marsha Hart
The volunteers arranged an abundance of dolls, toys, games and puzzles on tables at the former Peninsula Gardens building, which Pen Met Parks provided to the organization for the event. Volunteers set up the space to look like a decorated department store, complete with shopping carts.
A FISH tradition
Jan Coen started FISH Food Bank 48 years ago with her husband Ron. The two have been rallying volunteers and ensuring that families have not only food, but also gifts under their trees, ever since.
“We still want that small-town feeling here,” Jan said, “and people are willing to help.”
Volunteers get their orders during the 2024 Gig Harbor Peninsula FISH Toy Drive. Photo by Kathy Cummings
The organization received an abundance of bicycles this year, and that ensured that every child who wanted one will receive one this Christmas. The Gig Harbor Rotary, Murrey’s Disposal, and Gig Harbor-area residents donated the bikes, said FISH volunteer Amy Gartlan.
Every kid who asked for a bicycle this year as part of the Gig Harbor Peninsula FISH Toy Drive got one. Photo by Marsha Hart
Adults shopping for their children were given a ticket that indicated the table that matched their child’s age group. The piles of toys were categorized by age group and set up on tables. Volunteers pointed adults shopping for their children in the direction of the appropriate table.
Gifts at the 2024 Gig Harbor Peninsula FISH Toy Drive. Photo by Kathy Cummings
Shoppers had a variety of choices for dolls, trucks, action figures, stuffed animals and more. The drive provides three gifts worth less than $30 and one worth more than $30 for each child between the ages of 2 and 12.
Parents or guardians with infants or children ages 13 to 18 got one gift for each. And everyone could shop for one board game, puzzle, and book.
Driven by volunteers
As shoppers checked out they could also get wrapping paper and batteries for toys. All of it was free, donated by the community.
Donations were still coming in as of Monday, Dec. 16. Volunteers were busy sorting and restocking tables as toys were chosen. Any toys left over will be saved for next year, said Cindy Bohorfoush, chair of the Toy Drive committee.
The Gig Harbor Peninsula FISH 2024 Holiday Toy Drive. Photo by Kathy Cummings
“The volunteers are amazing, and everyone pitches in whey they see a need,” Bohorfoush said. “And, we’re all having a really good time. Everyone that I’ve met at FISH has been amazing, and I think it’s because Jan and Ron display such a good heart, and attract the same kind of people.”
The Coens said need has grown over the years, and so has the response from those in the community who are able to give. But donations to Gig Harbor FISH come from other places, too.
“I was on a radio program recently, and explained what we are doing here, and someone from Vashon called in and said they were sending a check, and that they would be sending a check to FISH each month,” Jan said.
Toys are sorted by age, making it easier for shoppers to find items appropriate for their children. Photo by Marsha Hart
Ron sends out thank you cards for those checks, and he said that he just sent one to a person in Phoenix, Ariz., and another to California this week.
New location needed for next year
The food bank will need a new location for next year’s Toy Drive. The old Peninsula Gardens building will not be available. Bohorfoush said they will need to find a space with at least 4,000 square feet available for a month in order to process, sort, and display all of the items.
“We understand it is a BIG ask,” Bohorfoush said. But without a space to hold all of the donations, the event can’t happen.
Volunteers said that the response from shoppers was positive. One parent told volunteer Susan Shamblin that it was angelic, and how much it meant to her to have the opportunity to shop for her child. Shamblin said the comment nearly brought her to tears.
In fact, tears of joy are common during the Toy Drive Shopping Days. Just the idea of helping to make Christmas a little more magical for a child evokes emotions from volunteers there.
“This is the community’s food bank,” Jan said. “All of the people working to give at Christmas time, it’s just so heartwarming.”
Toys to be distributed during the 2024 Gig Harbor Peninsula FISH Toy Drive. Photo by Kathy Cummings