Several groups collecting toys, items for area's needy

Cape Girardeau Jaycees are accepting Toybox and Christmas for the Elderly donations.

Toybox serves about 1,200 children in the Cape Girardeau area each year, according to a news release. The Jaycees accept money and toy donations at 20 locations around town, according to the release.

Once the donations are collected by Dec. 22 and toys are purchased, 25 volunteers dressed as Santa Claus drop off the toys to each child personally.

“For so many of these kids, they have so little in their daily lives, and they don’t have all the luxuries some of us have been blessed with,” Toybox organizer Tracy Haggerty said. “For Santa to show up and deliver toys, it makes Christmas a wonderful and exciting time instead of just another day.”

The Jaycees take requests from families for toys.

Missouri Division of Health and Senior Services caretakers identified seniors in need of items such as groceries, pharmaceutical products and warm clothes.

The Christmas for the Elderly program accepts donations of money and supplies through Dec. 18 to provide those items to seniors in financial need, according to the release.

The local Toys for Tots organization is holding a kickoff event with members of the Marine Corp League greeting people from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday at Toys R Us, 201 S. Silver Springs Road, according to a news release.

Toys for Tots gave more than 8,000 toys to about 2,000 children and raised $8,000 in donations, according to the release. The goal this year is to give out 12,000 toys.

“Due to the poor economy, we expect an increase in toy requests,” Toys for Tots coordinator David Loyd said in a news release. “We are confident that the members of our communities who have the means, will donate generously so that every child will get to experience a little magic on Christmas morning.”

Toys for Tots serves Cape Girardeau, Bollinger, Scott and Stoddard counties. Families can request a toy by calling David Loyd at (573) 270-4936 or by contacting East Missouri Action Agencies in Cape Girardeau and Marble Hill, Missouri; Division of Social Services in Sikeston, Missouri; and Public Health Center in Stoddard County.

The Student Santa group at Southeast Missouri State University hopes to buy and deliver gifts to 1,000 children in the state of Missouri, according to organizer Jennifer Gast.

Student Santas have served about 20,000 children and their families since the organization’s inception, Gast wrote in an email.

Student Santas also serve a free meal from noon to 2 p.m. Christmas Day at Jefferson Elementary School, Gast wrote.

Student Santas still are accepting volunteers and letters for disadvantaged families, Gast wrote.

bkleine@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3644

Pertinent address:

201 S. Silver Springs Road, Cape Girardeau, Mo.