SEQUIM — Larry Laing can’t explain the passion he has for his craft.
The retired Sequim man has spent the last two years building small wooden cars for orphaned or impoverished children from Haiti to Africa.
For many, it’s the first toy they’ve ever owned.
“It makes you very humble,” Laing said.
With the help of his son-in-law and an international charity, Laing has already sent about 1,000 of his colorful cars to children in Haiti.
Many recipients of the toys were orphaned in the devastating earthquake that rocked the Caribbean nation in 2010.
One preschool teacher whose students received a batch of Laing’s toy cars told the children that the cars were made by an American in America, Laing said.
“The kids said, ‘Hooray! Hooray! We have a friend in America!’” Laing said.
“If that doesn’t make you humble, I don’t know what will.”
Laing has since completed another 600 or 700 toy cars in his shop.
The new cars are destined for Kenya, Mexico, perhaps Appalachia and anywhere else he can send them without having to pay exorbitant shipping costs.
“I found that going through churches is probably the best way,” Laing said.
Laing worked with a charity to send his first batches of cars to Haiti.
Free the Children, a Toronto-based charity that works to empower impoverished youth around the world, shipped them at no cost to Haiti in December 2013.
Laing has a contact who teaches school in Kenya who delivered another 50 cars. He hopes to send more cars to Mexico through a church mission.
“I’m continually looking for avenues to send my cars,” Laing said.
“As long as they’re going to orphans or needy children, I’ll give the cars to anybody.”
There is nothing cheap or ordinary about Laing’s toy cars.
Each is handcrafted from solid wood and given two coats of non-toxic, metallic paint and four coats of gloss polyurethane.
“They can take a pretty good beating,” Laing said.
A-1 Auto Parts in Sequim donates the pin striping for Laing’s toy cars.
“I use black and chrome a lot,” he said.
Edensaw Woods of Port Townsend allows Laing to take scraps from a pile of assorted fine woods. Laing prefers to use oak, cherry or mahogany.
“I’m getting a lot of local support now,” Laing said.
The wheels and hub caps are ordered online by Laing’s daughter, Tiffany, and son-in-law, Jason Desmul.
“It’s not feasible to make the wheels,” Laing said.
Desmul introduced Laing to the charity Free the Children and arranged for the first sets of cars to go to Haiti.
Laing now has several varieties of toy cars, including race cars, 1947 Fords and mobster-era cars.
In addition to the cars, Laing is also making building blocks and alphabet blocks finished with oil and beeswax.
On average, Laing spends four to six hours a day on his hobby.
His wife, Pam, wraps the finished cars and boxes them.
A life-long woodworker and native Northwesterner, Laing worked for a sales management firm in Seattle before he retired to Whidbey Island and later moved to Sequim.
He said he feels “very blessed” to have found a hobby that brings so much joy to children.
“It’s a passion,” Laing said of his craft.
“I can’t explain it to you.”
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5072, or at rollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
