LOSS OF JOB THREATENS CHRISTMAS

Loss of a job is tough any time of year, but knowing there may be no Christmas for the children makes the loss that much more bitter.

Donors to Toy Box, sponsored by the Cape Girardeau Jaycees and the Southeast Missourian, can help lighten the load for families of underprivileged children by giving toys and donations.

A woman requested toys for her three children, ages 3, 6 and 7, adding that her husband "was injured in September and has been unable to work since then."

She requested a Spirograph and a Barbie doll for her 6-year-old daughter, a baby doll for her 3-year-old daughter and "Power Ranger stuff" for her 7-year-old son.

Donations are needed to make Christmas merry again this year for underprivileged children in Cape Girardeau. Toy Box volunteers are working to fill 448 applications -- for an estimated 1,000 to 1,200 children -- this year.

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 mailed to Toy Box Trust, P.O. Box 4, Cape Girardeau, Mo., 63702-0004.

The countdown is on to "T-Day" on Thursday, when Jaycees Santas and elves will suit up to deliver toys to children's homes. Deliveries will be made between 6 p.m. and 9 p.m.