While thousands of Marion County residents were involved in the Black Friday shopping that has become so synonymous with the day after Thanksgiving, there were probably between 700 and 1,000 parents and/or grandparents who were Christmas shopping at a place where the gifts were completely free. No charge. No taxes. Everything was free.
They were free thanks to the many hundreds of county residents who donated to the Christmas Toy Shop drive so that the less-fortunate young people among us could have an enjoyable Christmas.
We think the goal of the Christmas Toy Shop program was successful. Totally.
Think of any word you might wish to use to describe something as being successful and that word would apply here.
This was a project — designed completely for Marion County people to assist other Marion County people — where no member of the committee had any idea whether the Toy Shop would be successful. The biggest concern, of course, was whether there would be enough toys for everyone who came to get one. Actually two, as that’s how many toys were being allotted for each child. Early on, it appeared there might be too many toys. There would be many toys left over was the fear.
It didn’t take long, however, before those fears were stymied. Then the fear was that there might not be enough toys. In the end, everything worked out. Amazing, but true.
Even the Marion County Humane Society played a role in the Toy Shop success as 22 animals were adopted during the day. This makes more space for other kittens and puppies, cats and dogs to take their place at the animal shelter.
The Rev. D.D. Meighen, one of three pastors on the Toy Shop committee, said prior to the event that he believes the project will accomplish the opportunity to serve the citizens of Marion County by helping all families have an enjoyable Christmas.
“It also shows the strong collaboration that can be accomplished between faith groups, educational institutions, social agencies and governmental organizations in serving the common good for all. And it helps recognize the difficult times that many people find themselves in because of the economy,” Meighen said.
Meighen says the Toy Shop Black Friday program would help parents so they could use money they would normally spend on toys and gifts for household maintenance items or needed utility bills.
The Times West Virginian, also involved in the good-will project, believes all these goals were reached.
The Rev. Holley Faulkner described the giving as “a wonderful expression of what Marion Countians can do for Marion Countians. I have never seen a greater cooperation of schools, churches and businesses to help the people of Marion County.”
And as the Rev. James Saunders of Everlasting Covenant pointed out, the “real joy” of the day was realized by the volunteers seeing the joy on the people’s faces in assisting them with their “shopping.” Everyone was having an enjoyable time.
The Times West Virginian thanks all the volunteers, and some of them spent countless hours getting the Toy Shop headquarters in shape, whose contributions helped greatly to make the project a success. We also thank all the many businesses, groups, organizations, individuals and students whose generosity should help make the upcoming Christmas a good one.
What’s that slogan again? “Every kid deserves a good Christmas.”
We think that will happen.
