County-wide toy drive gets handmade help

WEBUTUCK — The smell of varnish and the sound of fans  filled the technology room at Eugene Brooks Intermediate School. It was after school hours, but it wasn’t students doing homework or cramming to finish an overdue project. Instead, a small but dedicated group of local students have put in the time and the craftsmanship to make this holiday season a special one for several families in need.

The students are part of the North East Community Center’s (NECC) After-School Club program, which finished up last week. The fall session consisted of five rotating activities, one for each day of the week. Cooking classes, pottery  and photography workshops, among others, made for a diversified schedule that kept students busy and assisted the community at the same time.

On Mondays, students headed to the technology room under the supervision of NECC program coordinator Rebecca Cossa and Webutuck teacher John Roccanova. They had been working on building handmade wooden toys to be donated to  the Toys for Tots drive for the last six weeks.

This is the after-school program’s second year of making toys for the drive, Roccanova said, and as an added challenge this year the students started from scratch rather from a uniform kit, meaning each toy will be different.

“It’s fun to cut out the separate pieces,� explained Jacob Kitchen, an after-school club veteran.

Club attendance was not mandatory, and Cossa said between eight to 10 kids worked on toys throughout the fall. December 14 was the last opportunity to put finishing touches on the toys, which were all wheeled vehicles of some kind. The toys will next be dropped off in the Toys for Tots donation box in the Eugene Brooks Intermediate  School office, to be picked up by Clarise Murphy, the Dutchess County coordinator for the national toy drive.

This year has been especially tough on the toy drive, Murphy said over the telephone. She has been the county’s acting coordinator for the last 23 years. She said that donations are down 50 percent while the need is steadily rising.

“Just two years ago the economic situation was completely different,� she said. “Right now we’re at a crunch time. There are so many more families in need.�

Last year more than $14,000 was collected, and some of those left-over funds will help cover the lack of funding this season; so far Murphy only reported $6,000 being raised this year in Dutchess County, while Toys for Tots will assist nearly 1,500 families this holiday season county-wide. The help and donations come from businesses and organizations all over the county.

“I had a mom come to me in tears the other day,� Murphy remembered. “She had no resources, and she said she wasn’t going to be able to make Christmas this year. I put my arm around her and said ‘Don’t worry, I’ll take care of it.’ That’s the reward for me.�

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