Toys for Kids

The Toys For Kids program is made possible by donations from local businesses and community members in the Osceola area.  Cash donations are accepted all year long and new unwrapped toys, games, and books are collected in drop boxes around town during the month of December.  The Toys For Kids program is sponsored by Central Bank of Osceola.

The Blessing Basket program is coordinated through the Open Cupboard Food Shelf and provides "the essentials" for at-need families - food and clothing.  During the holidays, local churches put up "Blessing Basket" trees adorned with cards bearing the names of children in the community who are in need of gifts.  These cards provide the child's first name, age, and shirt and pant sizes.  Community residents select a card and then go out to purchase the needed clothing items.  The Blessing Basket program also provides food vouchers and diapers to families served by the program. 

Students in the local school district host many fundraising efforts for the Toys For Kids & Blessing Basket programs each year, as well as donating socks, gloves and hats.  Several local church groups also donate quilts for families.

Once all the toys and gifts are collected and sorted, Central Bank hosts a big "Wrapping Party" to wrap all the gifts.  Employees and community members join in the fun of wrapping hundreds  and hundreds of toys!  All the wrapped toys are then brought to Trinity Lutheran Church and that evening, more community members gather to help wrap and organize the Blessing Basket items.  Once that's done, everything is combined into several boxes for each family.  Families are then invited to pick up their family boxes on the Friday night before Christmas.  Every year on average, the Toys For Kids and Blessing Basket programs help make the holidays brighter for 250 children in 100 families in the Osceola area.

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A Public Thank You From A Blessed Family (Letter to the Editor, Osceola Sun, January 4th, 2012):

Ever hear the saying "Words cannot express?"  Well, I'm going to try anyway.  As Christmas drew near this winter, I was beginning to become very stressed.  Situations beyond our control left us with little to no money for Christmas this year.  It didn't stop my two children, 5-year-old Matthew and 3-year-old Kaylie, from being excited.  As they told my husband and I all the things they wanted for Christmas, my heart literally hurt. 

Then, I spoke with Rosanne from the Open Cupboard.  She asked if we could use some help with Christmas this year.  I gave her my children's information:  ages, clothing sizes, and diaper size for my stubborn daughter.  A few weeks later, we received a letter with a date and time and a number.  We were family #100.  All that was left was to go to the church on that date and pick up our gifts.

Now, I graduated from Osceola High School and I remembered donating money for the Blessing Basket program.  I assumed the families involved would receive a toy for each child or something similar.  I wasn't prepared for what we received.  Volunteers had gone out shopping for presents for my children.  They chose multiple age appropriate toys that were perfect for my kids.  Then, they chose clothing that was equally perfect and a huge box of 176 diapers!  To top it all off, they included gift certificates for food for Christmas dinner.  All the gifts were labeled, 'To: Matthew or Kaylie, From: Santa.'

Christmas morning came and my children woke us up at 5 a.m. yelling, "Santa came!  Santa came!"  We helped them open the gifts that were just as much of a surprise to us as to them.  They donned their new outfits and played with their new toys while my husband and I cleaned up the wrapping paper.  I'm not sure who was more excited, us or the kids.

Our family's Christmas was saved thanks to the Toys For Kids and Blessing Basket programs.  The real thank you goes to everyone who donated and all the wonderful volunteers who shopped for, wrapped and gave out the gifts.  Now this is where I admit that words cannot express how grateful we are.  From the bottom of our hearts, we thank you.  Thank you for giving us the gift of a truly Merry Christmas this year.  God Bless you all.