SEQUIM — Organizers from Toys for Sequim Kids are preparing for another season of giving.
Volunteers with Sequim Community Aid, the nonprofit which organizes the holiday event, recently placed donation trees and boxes at five Sequim locations to provide gifts for children ages 1-18, including new age-appropriate toys, games, clothes, sports equipment and more.
The Toys for Sequim Kids event will take place from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. today at the Sequim Prairie Grange, 290 Macleay Road. Parents and guardians must show proof of Sequim School District residency, with only one adult allowed to enter the event. No child care is available.
Co-organizer Kathy Suta said Lego sets and Pokemon items remain popular among children, and presents for teens continue to be a huge need. She said about 40 percent of the families who visited in 2023 sought gifts for children ages 13-18.
Some of the recommended presents for teens include name-brand hoodies, makeup, video games, headphones/earbuds and Nerf equipment.
Last year’s event provided items for about 450 Sequim-area children.
Suta said with the event has seen higher participation rates among working parents because it has stayed open later in recent years.
Blue Sky Realty, 190 Priest Road, will continue to collect new blankets and clothing for the event, and The Linus Project and the Sunbonnet Sue Quilt Club will provide many quilts, Suta said.
Waste Connections – Olympic Disposal’s employees also donate many bikes for the event.
Support utilities/rent
Along with Toys for Sequim Kids, Sequim Community Aid offers year-round utility and rental assistance for Sequim School District residents.
Suta said this year requests are already up about 20 percent from 2023, with an increase in the winter’s colder months.
To help the nonprofit with donations, mail to: Sequim Community Aid, P.O. Box 1591, Sequim, WA, 98382 and specify checks with “toys” in the memo line for Toys for Sequim Kids, or leave the memo blank for utilities, organizers said.
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Matthew Nash is a reporter with the Olympic Peninsula News Group, which is composed of Sound Publishing newspapers Peninsula Daily News, Sequim Gazette and Forks Forum. Reach him by email at matthew.nash@sequimgazette.com.
