Drive-through event gives ‘toys for a cause’

Snowfalls are usually silent, but icy sprinkles could be heard landing softly on North Nokomis Northeast on Friday, Dec. 18. Vehicles circled through under the awning of Reach Church and pulled up to the front door of Love INC in Alexandria.

More than 250 families received toys and food in the drive-through Toys for Kids program, which was available from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Volunteers loaded garbage bags full of toys and totes of food into trunks the week before Christmas.

Although Toys for Tots is a national organization, The Runestone Detachment of the Marine Corps League in Alexandria started the Toys for Kids program locally seven years ago as a community service project, Grant Haugen said.

Haugen received the Minnesota Marine of the Year award at the Marine Corps League Department of Minnesota Convention in 2015 for his leadership and organization of the Toys for Kids program. Toys are donated by businesses and individuals from the community.

“One thing that amazes me is how people will donate toys for a cause,” Haugen said.

In addition to providing gifts to put under the Christmas tree, Alexandria Covenant Church and Cullen's Home Center also helped provide meals and prepare food baskets.

Families who preregistered received a number as they drove in, which coordinated with the numbered bags full of toys laid out in numerical order on the floor of Reach Church.

Those who heard about the program through word of mouth were directed across the street to Love INC. There, they could select presents for their families where items were separated into sections, from a 64-pack of Crayola crayons to pink-eared teddy bears, basketballs to long-sleeve flannel shirts.

1/3: A member of The Runestone Detachment of the Marine Corps League loads a bag of toys into a vehicle parked outside Reach Church on Friday, Dec. 18. Families who were referred or preregistered for the Toys for Kids program received bags full of donated new toys for Christmas presents. (Jasmine Johnson / Echo Press)

2/3: Local families who heard about the Toys for Kids program through word of mouth were directed across the street from Reach Church over to Love INC. There, they could select presents for their families where donated items were separated into sections. (Jasmine Johnson / Echo Press)

3/3: Four volunteers stand between aisles of toys and games set up at Love INC in Alexandria on Friday, Dec. 18. Navigating through the tables, they worked on filling more bags for families who came to receive toys through the local Toys for Kids program. (Jasmine Johnson / Echo Press)