Police: More toys needed for kids in area shelters

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By Thomas Geyer | Sunday, December 17, 2006 1:12 AM CST | () comments

Aubrey Kohl, 11, of Davenport, and her father, Richard, handed sacks full of stuff to Davenport Police officers Mike Martin and Eric Gruenhagen.

Aubrey’s smile stretched across her face as the police thanked her for her donation.

“We brought art sets and art kits, all kinds of stuff,” she said. “It’s to help out the kids.”

It is just that deep, childlike spirit of giving Aubrey displayed that police say is helping them to give a Merry Christmas to the children stuck in the domestic abuse shelters and programs run by Family Resources Inc.

Games, dolls, toy trucks, and knickknacks of all kinds, including the ever-popular Etch A Sketch and Play-Doh, rolled in Saturday to the collection point set up at NorthPark Mall near Sears.

Martin said it is amazing how the toy drive is supported by people ranging across the economic spectrum.

“You see people come up and they ain’t got much but they put up something,” he said. “What those people give is tantamount to the $100 others can give.”

Walking into the large recreational vehicle supplied for the weekend by US Adventure RV, Davenport, Martin picked-up a stack of handmade Christmas stockings. The stack contained 30 to 40 carefully sewn stockings in red and greens, decorated and ready for hanging by the chimney with care.

“This one lady came up and said she didn’t have any money but she had all these Christmas stockings she made,” Martin said. “All someone needs to do is put a child’s name on them and they’re ready to be stuffed with candy and toys and will make any kid happy.”

Of course, there were the big gifts. A man walked up with six bags of toys and $150. All money collected helps Family Resources with expenses throughout the year.

Looking at all that had been collected Saturday, Gruenhagen said that, “the people have fantastic hearts in this community.”

This is the third year the Davenport Police Association and Union of Professional Police have held the toy drive for the children in the domestic abuse shelters.

It started four years ago when Family Resources’ domestic abuse shelter was burglarized and all the toys for the children were stolen. At that time, the Police Association and Union of Professional Police stepped in with Gold’s Gym to mount a toy drive that replaced the much needed toys.

The next year was missed, but last two years the police have worked to get the much needed toys for the kids.

Davenport police Sgt. Bruce McKee, who has been working for months on the toy drive, said that it is important that Santa Claus visit the children in the shelters.

“They’ve gone through the traumatic experience of seeing their moms beaten up, their dads or mother’s boyfriends taken away in handcuffs, and they’ve been ripped from their homes,” McKee said.

The kids should get the opportunity to have Christmas memories that are happy, he said.

But the toys are not just used at Christmas, McKee said. Toys that are left over are given to children on their birthdays or as something to hold or play with when they first arrive at the shelter.

There are currently plenty of dolls, Teddy bears and stuffed animals, McKee said.

What are desperately needed are new packaged toys and games, particularly generic games for both girls and boys, and toys for boys such as trucks and tanks.

Thomas Geyer can be contacted at (563) 383-2328 or tgeyer@qctimes.com.

If you go

For those who would like to donate, the drive is continuing from noon to 5 p.m. today in the NorthPark Mall parking lot behind Sears near Kimberly Road.