JAYCEES VOLUNTEERS RAPIDLY FILLING TOY ORDERS

As any parent can tell you, picking toys for children isn't as easy as it looks.

But Cape Girardeau Jaycees are getting pretty good at it as they fill orders for the 1995 Toy Box toy drive sponsored by the Jaycees and the Southeast Missourian.

"We try to give every child a pair of gloves or mittens and a hat or earmuffs," said Melanie McDaniel, now in her second year as a Toy Box volunteer. "For the younger kids, we try to give them stuffed animals."

It's also important to look at the family's application and see if the children are close enough in ages that they could all play a board game together, McDaniel said.

"I try to give all the kids a coloring book and crayons, too," she said.

McDaniel said she also looks at children's requests for specific toys, "and if we have the stuff, I try to put it in."

Jaycees volunteers are busy sorting toys by age, filling orders and shopping for additional items to help pad donated toys. Toy Box benefits 1,000 to 1,200 underprivileged children in Cape Girardeau annually.

LaRae Leimer has been volunteering with Toy Box since 1989, and is a past chairman of the toy drive. "So I know how important it is to get out here and help and have the donations come in early, and how much we appreciate the community for making the donations."

Donations are needed, said Mike Seabaugh, Jaycees co-chairman of the drive. Requests for toys are outstripping supplies, he said.

"We've got 448 applications, and we've got 135 of them filled," he said.

Toys are especially needed for infants, for children ages 2 and 3, for girls ages 7 to 10 and for boys ages 8 to 10.

"About all we've got for boys are cars and trucks," McDaniel said. "You can't really give them a lot of variety."

Stuffed animals suitable for younger children are also needed, she said.

It's getting down to the wire now, with "T-Day" only a week away, Seabaugh said.

Jaycees Santas and elves will deliver toys to children's homes on Dec. 21, but volunteers would like to have all the orders filled by Dec. 19 and organized by routes Dec. 20.

"It takes one night just to put the bags in all the right routes," he said. "We've got seven days to get about 300 bags filled, so we've got some work to do, if we have enough stuff to fill them. If you've got a family with several kids, you can throw in a game and some books that they all can use."

Donations have been slow so far, but Seabaugh is optimistic they will pick up in time for Christmas.

"I'm sure we'll make it," he said. "We always do."

New, unwrapped toys may be dropped off at Boatmen's Bank, Capital Bank, Coldwell Banker, Gulliver's Travels, Commerce Bank, Mercantile Bank, First National Bank, Chuck E. Cheese's, West Park Mall or the Southeast Missourian.

Donations may be sent to Toy Box Trust, P.O. Box 4, Cape Girardeau, Mo., 63702-0004.