Toybox receives $35,000 in toys, cash in three days

Boxes of canned goods and food, fleece blankets, toys, dolls and games filled a 16-foot trailer and a pickup truck bed Friday afternoon when volunteers from the Cape Girardeau Jaycees picked up items for Toybox and Christmas for the Elderly.

But the boxes and bags represented more than gifts for children and senior citizens who might otherwise have empty stockings this Christmas.

They represented a community effort that raised $35,000 in cash and toys in three days.

Both Toybox and Christmas for the Elderly are joint efforts of the Southeast Missourian and the Cape Girardeau Jaycees. Toybox provides gifts to needy children up to age 12. The recipients in Christmas for the Elderly are selected by caseworkers from the county health department and Missouri Division of Health and Senior Services.

Although the goods seemed like an abundance, it will likely fill the requests for only 350 families, leaving another 150 or so still in need.

"We'll still be close and need donations," said volunteer Mike Seabaugh as he carried boxes outside.

Another worker nodded in agreement.

"We could use another load like this," Dean Reeves said.

The effort needs another $5,000 in either cash or toys and supplies to serve all the children and elderly who applied, Seabaugh said.

Gifts for the elderly also have been down this year, though some major requests are being filled. A keyboard was donated for a woman identified only as "Mrs. C," and several church groups have agreed to adopt people profiled in the newspaper. Profiles of those in need have been running each day on page 3A.

If you would like to donate, new items still can be dropped off at the Southeast Missourian offices during regular business hours, at Westfield Shoppingtown West Park or at businesses participating in the effort. Monetary donations can be mailed to P.O. Box 4, Cape Girardeau, Mo., 63702-0004.

ljohnston@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 126