Toybox program for poor in need of $40,000

Got time for a quick math problem?

If you spend $50 per child and have to buy toys for 1,000 children, how much money will you need?

$50,000.

Sounds like a lot, doesn't it?

Maybe so, but it's what the Cape Girardeau Jaycees usually spend each year in their Toybox program that provides needy children with Christmas gifts.

And if the Jaycees don't get at least $40,000 either in cash or toys by Friday, they won't be able to deliver gifts this year.

"People have no concept of how big this thing is," said Mike Seabaugh, a Jaycee member.

Scott McClanahan, another member, said the group has no money in the bank and plenty of shopping left to do.

The group needs the toys by Friday so it can spend next week sorting them by age and filling requests. Each year, more than 500 families in Cape Girardeau, many of them with more than two children, benefit from the Toybox program.

A family of five struggling to make ends meet could really benefit from the program. They have children ages 1 1/2, 6, 7 and twins who are 4. Learning toys for the younger children would be good gifts, their mother said. The 4-year-olds have varying tastes: One likes to dress up in fancy clothes and pretend she's a princess while her sister likes cars and is more of a tomboy. Books, basketballs and games also would make good gifts for this family.

The toys will be delivered Dec. 18 to all the applicants.

Typically the cash donations for Toybox come in during the last week of the program, and usually total about $20,000. That often leaves the Jaycees scrambling to shop and sort toys at the last minute.

If you added up the value of the toys that are donated, it probably would exceed the monetary contributions, McClanahan said. But without either right now, Toybox is at a standstill.

Put as simply as possible, McClanahan said, "We need $40,000 worth or toys or cash by Dec. 12 to make this project work."

For more than two decades, Toybox has been a joint effort of the Jaycees and the Southeast Missourian.

But Toybox isn't the only charitable program in jeopardy. Christmas for the Elderly also needs some help with donations and financial support.

The program needs $10,000 each year to provide the gifts and household goods it provides to senior citizens. Donations are low this year both in goods and cash, said Kim McDowell, who helps coordinate the program for the Southeast Missourian.

However the donations arrive, the program tries to help as many people as it can; the clients are referred by the Missouri Division of Health and Senior Services and county health department.

And the number of clients profiled for the news stories in the Southeast Missourian continues to rise. This year, there are 33 applications for assistance.

If people prefer to give monetary donations, "we'd be happy to do the shopping," said McDowell. Gift certificates for discount stores, grocery stores and pharmacies are much-needed items for the program. Books of stamps and even pre-stamped envelopes also make good gifts for the elderly who cannot leave their home because of health problems.

Cash donations for either program can be mailed to P.O. Box 4; Cape Girardeau, Mo. 63702-0004.

ljohnston@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 126