WR begins annual charity: Operation Toy Drop

WARNER ROBINS, Ga. — The holidays are often seen as time to set aside for family, as time for joy and happiness and simultaneously, a time of hardship.

That’s why each year when Thanksgiving and Christmas come around, organizations across the nation begin working to ensure that every family, especially those in need, are able to have a Christmas that can spark a little joy. Warner Robins has decided to do their part, too.

In a project titled “Operation Toy Drop,” the City of Warner Robins is working this holiday season to ensure that local children have gifts they can enjoy. The Journal spoke with Mayor LaRhonda Patrick for more details.

“We are asking the public to donate unwrapped toys for children of all ages, so we can help get toys to children right here in our community,” Patrick said. “At Christmastime, I always think of children who may not have toys to play with, they may not have many things under the tree — let alone have a hot meal.”

Until noon on Friday, Dec. 16, those looking to share a little goodwill can bring new, unwrapped toys to Warner Robins City Hall. The toys will be collected there and distributed later in the day.

Operation Toy Drop was initially intended to act as a sort of partnership with the Houston County School District — the city would work with counselors to find children in need, and then provide gifts directly to those families.

Due to time constraints, the project took a different route for its inaugural year, but Patrick said she hopes to turn back to the original intent in following years.

To distribute the toys they’ve collected this year, the City of Warner Robins will contact local organizations such as Safe House of Central Georgia, the Salvation Army and local churches that already have a mechanism for distribution. The city is also working through the Homeless Liaison with the Houston County Board of Education to help bring gifts to more than 400 Houston County children who are considered to be homeless.

Toys and gift suggestions were provided by the City of Warner Robins. These gifts include:

Infants

-Small stuffed animals with fabric eyes

-Sippy cups, rattles, teethers

-Plastic or board books in English and Spanish

-Stacking toys

-Baby books, touch books

-Baby blanket

-Light up musical toys

Toddlers and Preschoolers

-Shape sorters, pop-up toys

-Sturdy toys with few parts

-Stuffed animals, dolls

-Stickers

-Play-Doh (requesting name brand specifically)

-Preschool age games and card games — Chutes and Ladders, Candy Land, Hi Ho Cherry O, Old Maid, Go Fish, etc.

-Dinosaurs

-Large, hard plastic animals

-Little People toys

-Wooden puzzles

-Fubbles no-spill bubble tumblers

School-age Children

-Lego sets for boys and girls

-Art sets, art supplies, craft kits

-Velvet posters, coloring books

-Crayola crayons and markers

-Puzzle, board games — Monopoly, Sorry, Life, Connect Four, etc.

-Card games with coated finish — Uno, Skip Bo, Spot It, etc.

-All plastic action figures

-Hot Wheels cars, large cars and trucks

-Robot/STEM activity kits

-Spanish/bilingual toys

Teens

-Complex craft kits and Lego kits

-Gift cards in $10 increments — iTunes, Amazon, Target, Barnes and Noble, Starbucks, Chick-Fil-A, Sephora, Ulta, Game Stop

-Puzzles, playing cards, board games — Apples to Apples, Yahtzee, Phase 10 Dice, Blokus, etc.

-Artist quality markers, colored pencils, etc.

-Intricate coloring books

-Portable Bluetooth speakers

-Water bottles — Hydroflasks, Camel Baks, etc.

-Over the ear headphones, earbuds

-Remote control cars/drones

-Stretched canvases for painting

-Acrylic paints in small bottles and paint brushes

-Toiletry sets, nail polish/makeup

-Notebooks, journals

Miscellaneous

-Gifts bags with wide bottoms

-Gift cards for Amazon, Target, Wal-Mart for purchase of unique/specific needs throughout the year

Clothing, all sizes

-Sweatshirts

-Sweatpants

-Underwear

-Socks

-Throw blankets

For health and safety reasons, all donations must be new and unwrapped. The city asks that the donor’s name and contact information be left with the gift so they can contact them with a “proper thank you.”

“We are about community,” Mayor Patrick said, closing. “The city is about community. We’re not just here to make laws, we’re not just here to enforce them, or read proclamations for important events with our constituents — we have other constituents, too, and those are children.

“Council and I, we all agreed after learning specifically about the homeless population in our school system. There are currently 400 children in the Houston County school system that are considered homeless. Hearing that around the holiday season is what motivates us to do this toy drive, directing the toys to our school system.”

While Patrick is in office, she said this toy drive would be an annual initiative.

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