Vashon Kiwanis 2009 Toy Drive to bring Christmas joy to 196 young islanders who might otherwise have missed gifts was successful because so many Islanders besides Kiwanians volunteered, Kiwanis chair Joyce Smith said as she listed elves who gave so much to the Toy Drive:

"Sigrid Thomas, who spent every hour that I did at Island Variety, was a driving force and always a smile";

Ihe 1009 drive set a new record. In the 2008 Toy Chris Olsen -painted the toy boxes, making new trees for the boxes, set them out and picked them up, collected toys and then drove me around thru the (record setting) snow so I could get to Island Variety where we worked stuffing bags with toys and clothes, cleaned up and returned equipment and left over toys to storage. He also brought us the electric heater to warm up with and refilled propane bottles for that heater. Duane Didricksen brought the propane heater for the unheated building in which we operated the toy sorting and pick up and purchased and donated propane to run the heater;

Jenny Granum and Sammy Fall each spent one full day shopping for the items not donated;

Karen Powers, helped set up the room, delivered storage boxes, filled bags, collected toys from the donation box in the Pharmacy and shopped the day before the "Give out" to cover last minute items not donated;

Susie Hill worked at night to stuff toys and clothes into bags then shopped (all day) for items not donated. She also collected toys each evening and help sort. Then she helped give out toys and later delivered bags to snow bound families;

Mimi Walker, helped stuff bags;

Gert Cunningham, worked at night to stuff bags and also shopped for items that were needed;

Jeff Cunningham and Andrew Kimmel helped in unloading tables, loading tables, picked up items in town as I needed something;

Methodist Church Quilters donated the wonderful-hand made quilts for smaller children;
Greg Stoffer also picked up items in town as I needed them;
Shawn Hoffman for letting us use the vacant Vashon Variety space; (Wonderful space)
Steve Amos for making all the awesome wish tags placed on the “trees” for each donation box in stores and offices and J.R. Crawford for putting them on the stylized trees;
Peter Rinearson, of Mercer Island, shopped at Costco for coats and toys then wrote a check for $600 to total his donation at $1000;
Bettie Edwards and Angie Kelly at The Little House for making the special stockings that went way beyond what was requested by each child;
Mike Cunningham for delivery of toy bags to snow bound families;
Jeff Ammons of the Bike Shop for the donation of bikes who also cleaned up donated bikes and repaired them at his own cost;
There are also several business that were very kind to us in the 2008 drive such as Vashon Pharmacy, Island Lumber, True Value, Thriftway, and Vashon Video which sold items at a large discount when they knew that it was for the Toy Drive;
Vashon High School Key Club members collected and contributed toys and clothes and then helped sort donations; McMurray Builders’ Club members who collected toys; fellow Kiwanians Beth de Groen, who set up the “special stocking “ gifts production by the Little House and helped at the distribution center, Jim Scott, who helped borrow tables, Dave Parker, who delivered some bags of toys through the snow to some who couldn’t make the distribution event and also phoned families to remind them of the pick up time, Ray Konrad, Jay Becker, and community volunteers John deGroen and Chris Olson who helped with clean up. and Performance Reps, who helped me whenever I needed to leave work and run errands as well as helping set up tables and chairs.
Without these people the Toy Drive would never have made it. I owe a huge debt of gratitude to each and every one.
--Joyce Smith

The 173 children who submitted wish lists to the 2008 Kiwanis Toy Drive or whose parents or guardians dropped by was more than twice as many as in recent years.

Volunteers repainted the gift donation boxes placed in several stores and offices. Volunteers helped put just the right kind of gifts in the opaque bags for parents to take home to surprised children. Individuals and businesses donated gifts and money to buy gifts; seven bicycles were donated, for example.

Dear Parent/Guardian/Friend:

It is that time of year again when Islanders share the joy of the holidays with the children of Vashon. To request gifts for your children, please complete one form per child so we can help make holiday wishes come true. These gifts from neighbors are free to your child.

Parent(s)/Guardian(s)
Name:_________________________________________________
(Parent and guardian names are held in confidence and used only on this form which the chairman uses to tell volunteers which gifts to put in numbered opaque bags for you to pick up Dec. 20. Pick up is at the former Island Variety Store between Vashon Market and NAPA noon to 7 pm.)

Street Address: (required)_______________________________________________________
(In case we have to deliver the bags to you because of illness, job demands, etc.)

Best Phone: (required)______________________Best time to call________
(If you do not have a phone try to arrange for a neighbor to take a call for you. We will be discrete if we need to call.)

Child’s Name:__________________________________Age:_____Gender:_______

Sizes: (be specific) Shirts____________Pants_________Shoes___________


Dress/Skirt_______________Favorite Color(s)_________________________


Please request ONE gift (limit $30) for this child. Specify size, color, etc._________________________________________________________


Please circle the types of gifts from those listed below you would want for this child. We will try our best to fill requests but cannot guarantee any items.

Stuffed Animals Art Supplies Pajamas Books Movies(VCR)

Movies(DVD) Music CDs Music Tapes Warm Clothes

Mittens/Gloves Coats Hats Sports Stuff Games

Toys Personal Care Products

MAIL COMPLETED FORMS BY NOV.12 TO: VASHON KIWANIS, P.O.BOX 262, Vashon, WA, 98070

Gifts can be picked up Friday. December 20 at the former Island Variety Store (17639 100th Ave SW) from noon to 7 PM. Please contact Joyce Smith @ 567-5563 with any questions. You can print this form from this web page and use it.

The Island's annual Toy Drive for children who may have little or nothing under the tree gets underway each fall.

The drive was started by a single mother whose children faced a bleak holiday until friends and neighbors provided clothing and toys. The mother founded the drive when times got better for her. Over the years individuals and groups have run the drive.

Various organizations and individuals nominate children to make wish lists of toys, clothing, and other gifts which are then filled by other individuals and organizations, explains Chairwoman Joyce Smith

Parents or guardians then pick up a sack of gifts. The sack is full of gifts as close to the wish list as possible. All names are kept confidential by Kiwanis and participating organizations.

Individual wish lists are posted on large donation boxes in participating retailer establishments. The gifts with wish list attached are put into any of the boxes in convenient retail establishments.

Cash and gift donations are solicited by Kiwanis to fulfill the wishes of children overlooked by donors.

Some families have used the toy drive to begin teaching their own children the value of giving to others. Youngsters search for gifts they then give anonymously to other children.

Some 140 to 200 opaque sacks of gifts are given each year. Large items like bicycles can't be hidden, however.

The opaque sacks are to allow parents to smuggle the gifts into their home before Dec.25.

Parents who can't make the pick up day Dec. 20 get their sacks delivered by volunteers.

To donate or volunteer call Smith at 206 567 5563.