Sequim Community Aid seeks donations for Toys for Sequim Kids on Dec. 13

By Matthew Nash • November 22, 2017 1:30 am
Volunteers Joel Ogden and Anne Notman with Sequim Community Aid help Sheena Touchard look for toys at last year’s Toys for Sequim Kids. Organizers said 400 children in Sequim received items from the event in 2016. This year, the event is set for Dec. 13, at the Sequim Prairie Grange. Sequim Gazette file photo by Matthew Nash
Volunteers Joel Ogden and Anne Notman with Sequim Community Aid help Sheena Touchard look for toys at last year’s Toys for Sequim Kids. Organizers said 400 children in Sequim received items from the event in 2016. This year, the event is set for Dec. 13, at the Sequim Prairie Grange. Sequim Gazette file photo by Matthew Nash

This December, Sequim Community Aid continues its 70-year tradition of providing presents for local children at its Toys for Sequim Kids giveaway.

Slated for 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 13, at Sequim Prairie Grange, 290 Macleay Road, volunteers for the nonprofit provide toys, clothes and more for babies to children in eighth grade in the Sequim School District boundaries.

Last year, the event provided support to more than 400 children and 100 families.

How to help

Donations can be provided in a number of ways.

Clallam County Fire District 3’s main station at 323 N. Fifth Ave., serves as a drop-off location on weekdays.

Christmas trees with slips of paper requesting specific toys can be selected and dropped back off through Monday, Dec. 11 at Grocery Outlet, 1045 W. Washington St., Clallam Co-Op Farm and Garden, 216 E. Washington St., YMCA of Sequim, 610 N. Fifth Ave., and QFC, 990 E. Washington St.

Along with toys and games, Toys for Sequim Kids’ event offers blankets and throws for families.

Boy Scout Troop 1103 hosts a blanket-throw drive from 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 2, at Sequim Grocery Outlet. The following Saturday, Boy Scout Troop 90 hosts a second blanket drive on Dec. 9, from 11 a.m.-3 p.m. at Grocery Outlet.

1st Security Bank, 114 S. Sequim Ave., will be collecting blankets and warm clothing for the event through Dec. 11, and Blue Sky Realty, 190 S Priest Road, and participating realty agencies will also be collecting warm blankets and clothing.

How to participate

At Toys for Sequim Kids, parents must show proof of residency in the Sequim School District boundaries, sign their names, and provide the ages and gender of their children.

A volunteer “elf” will take the parent to gift tables for the selected tables for their children and help them select items.

Each child usually receives a stuffed animal plus two toys — one main gift and one smaller gift — and he/she may also receive an age-appropriate game, book and item of clothing. Each family receives a game and a throw or blanket. Families can also enter a drawing to win a bicycle at the end of the event for their child if he/she doesn’t have a bicycle.

Organizers also seek volunteers for the event who enjoy being in a giving environment.

Sequim Community Aid, a nonprofit, provides year-round help with utility and rent for those in need. Call Sequim Community Aid at 681-3731 for assistance and/or to volunteer.

Monetary donations can be mailed to “Sequim Community Aid, P.O. Box 1591, Sequim, WA, 98382.” Checks for Toys for Sequim Kids should state “toys” on the memo line. To donate to the agency for utility assistance, leave the memo blank, organizers said.

Jim Davis and Kathy Suta serve as co-chairman for Toys for Sequim Kids.