Toy Box gives much more than presents

Look all across this land, from sea to shining sea, and you will have a hard time finding a program of giving that brings as much joy to children as does the Toy Box of McCook.

Started in the early 1960s by Dr. Joe Magrath and the late Sharon Snyder, the toy distribution project has grown to the point today that it provides Christmas gifts for needy children in a wide area of Nebraska and Kansas.

"The kids and their families come from all over," said Bill Stewart, who has devoted many of his past 35 years to helping the program. "We have children from Norton, Kan. to the Colorado state line come for the toy distribution. There have also been kids here from Kearney, Beaver City, Imperial and points in between," he said.

The growth of the Toy Box has been astounding. That first year, when the program was known as Toys for Tots, one bicycle and one wagon were given away to needy children. This year--when toys are distributed Sunday afternoon at the McCook Junior High Cafeteria -- more than 300 youngsters will be treated to a wide assortment of Christmas gifts. Many in the community give freely of their time so that no child -- regardless of the family's circumstances -- is denied a gift at Christmastime. "No child has ever been turned away.

We have never ran out of toys," Stewart said. The success of the Toy Box stems directly from a core of loyal volunteers, and a helpful team of contributing businesses. Bicycles -- the longtime Toy Box favorite -- are readied and repaired by a team that includes Harold Laursen, Rex Morell, Ken Ebert, Marv Lorentz and Bill Stewart. Meanwhile, Bonnie Monzon is dressing dolls with loving care. She gets an assist from her husband, Pete, and son, Richard, who join Bill and Sherry Lytle in picking up the gifts from donor dumpsters in the community. "We get help from others, too," Bill said.

"The Mad Dad kids from school pitch in, as does the FFA. We also received some very appreciated help this year from the boys and a girl from the Work Ethic Camp." On the business front, the Toy Box program gets valuable assistance from a wide range of enterprises, including Parker-Dayco, Valmont, the Jewell Co., the Kugler Co., KICX-KBRL, Pinpoint Communications, Barnett Lumber, Cycle Sports of North Platte, the Nebraska National Guard, and the McCook Economic Development Corp. Together, the the contributing businesses and the volunteers are making a special difference in the lives of needy children.

The name is short and simple: the Toy Box. But because many give freely of their time, the good the program does is immense. They care and they share. Nothing in life is more important.