Amateur Radio Community Fuels "Best Year Ever" for United Way Toy Drive

The bear that started the ARRL Holiday Toy Drive in October

NEWINGTON, CT, Dec 21, 2004--Contributions from the Amateur Radio community to the ARRL Holiday Toy Drive resulted in "the best year ever" for its benefactor, the United Way's White Doves Holiday Project in Martin County, Florida. Martin County United Way agreed to serve as a collection point and to coordinate toy distribution.

"They have enough toys to cover their own program and three others, all over the region," said ARRL Media and Public Relations Manager Allen Pitts, W1AGP, who says a toy stuffed bear inspired him to spearhead the program. The toys and donations will help brighten holidays for youngsters and families whose lives were devastated by the hurricanes that hit Florida earlier this year.

Carol Hodnett, a director at the United Way site, says the storms and their aftermath were especially traumatic for children. "In addition to the frightening experience of going through the hurricanes, youngsters are coping with a great deal of stress felt within their families and at school," she says.

In Central Florida, more than 22,000 homes were destroyed and another 40,000 received significant damage. Thousands of families remained homeless as the holiday season approached. Pitts says that radio amateurs, who had helped provide emergency communication in the hurricanes' immediate aftermath, came to the rescue yet again in the toy drive. Hams and ham radio clubs from Maine to California purchased thousands of new children's toys. Most hams included QSL cards with their toy or cash donations.

The White Doves Holiday Project sorting area at the Martin County Fairgrounds. [Jeff Beals, WA4AW, Photo]

Among the elves: Phil Royce, KE4PWE, of the Palm Beach Amateur Radio Council--representing radio clubs in Palm Beach County--recently delivered a toy donation to Martin County. "The place is loaded with toys," he said of the fairgrounds staging area, where the donated toys have been stored and sorted since they began arriving.

ARES New York City District Emergency Coordinator Mike Lisenco, N2YBB, said the ARRL Holiday Toy Drive provided hams in his area an opportunity to pay back the assistance hams from all over the US rendered in the wake of the September 11 terror attacks.

The wall of the White Doves Holiday Project office displays the many QSL cards sent with toys donated by hams.

"This is just one way we can say 'thank you,'" he said, "to be able to reciprocate and help someone else in their time of need. Paying it forward, if you will." Borough emergency coordinators took responsibilities for their communities. Ray Lukacs, W2DEA, collected the toys from around New York City and brought them back to Brooklyn, where they were boxed at the December meeting of the Kings County ARES group.

Lisenco also offered special thanks to Bill Davis, KC8CQT, and to FedEx. "Bill, who works as a member of the FedEx Customer Advocate Team, went out of his way to arrange for FedEx to pick up the cost of shipping the toys to Florida," he explained. "His help, and the generosity of the FedEx Corporation, is greatly appreciated."

New York City ARES members enjoying packing toys. [Joe Prego, N2ECR, Photo]

At the suggestion of Jeff Huff, N4GAN, a portion of Public Television station WPBT's weekly News Program New Florida--called "Hurricane Warning"--will feature Amateur Radio and the nationwide ARRL Holiday Toy Drive for Florida hurricane victims. The program is scheduled to air statewide via WPBT Thursday, December 23, at 9 PM Eastern Time (check local listings).

Diane Tomasik, associate director of the Volunteer & Community Resource Center at the United Way of Martin County, said the toy distribution started Monday, December 20, even as more donations continued to arrive from the Amateur Radio community.

"We will not only serve about 1200 families from our own site but also have plenty to share with Indiantown and the Children's Home Society--which covers the whole Treasure Coast region," she told ARRL. "We also will be able to give toys to children though the sheriff's department programs."

Tomasik noted the more than $8000 in cash donations will allow the agency to fill the gaps for age groups that were short of toys. "The White Doves Project has had a phenomenal success this year, thanks to the efforts of the ARRL nationwide," she said. "It's our best year ever."

Pitts said the event's success has shown Amateur Radio's best side. "The ARRL is all of us working together," he said, "and the League should feel very proud of what we accomplished together for these children of the storms."

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