BARBIE DOLL CAPTURES HEART OF 9-YEAR-OLD

The beautiful Holiday Barbie doll, with her fancy party dress, has captured the heart of 9-year-old Melissa.

But Melissa may never own the doll, her only Christmas wish.

Her mother, a single parent who is currently looking for work, knows the doll is much too extravagant a gift and has tried to persuade Melissa to think of other things.

In fact, Melissa's mother knows that she cannot afford to buy her little girl any Christmas presents this year.

Melissa knows money is tight, but she can't help dreaming about the beautiful Barbie doll.

Her mother has asked Toybox for help, and she is not alone.

Barbie dolls are one of the most common Christmas requests of hundreds of little girls on the Toybox list.

Toybox is a joint project of the Cape Girardeau Jaycees and the Southeast Missourian newspaper.

Toys will be delivered Dec. 17 by a team of Jaycees Santas and helpers.

Applications for Toybox will be accepted at the Salvation Army headquarters, 701 Good Hope, through Dec. 11 from 10 a.m. to noon and from 2-4 p.m.

New and unwrapped gifts for children from birth through age 12 may be delivered to any of the following locations: Southeast Missourian, 301 Broadway, Boatmen's Bank Cape Girardeau locations, Capital Bank Cape Girardeau locations, Commerce Bank, Farm and Home Savings Association, Perry Travel Center, Gulliver's Travel Agency, and West Park Mall.

Donations may be mailed to Toybox Trust, P.O. Box 1626, Cape Girardeau, Mo. 63702-1626, or dropped off at the Southeast Missourian.

For more information, call Kim McDowell at 335-6611 during daytime business hours.