SEQUIM — Santa’s elves took some time off from the North Pole to help parents in need pick a few gifts for their girls and boys Tuesday during the annual Toys for Sequim Kids giveaway.
The giveaway, organized by Sequim Community Aid, was held at the Sequim Prairie Grange.
About 80 parents perused toys and clothing neatly arranged on tables in the morning, with more expected to trickle in throughout the afternoon, said Donna Tidrick, Sequim Community Aid president.
The parents “are very grateful and have been very patient,” she said.
“Everybody goes out smiling, and we’ve got a lot of toys. The community really responded.”
Eligible recipients were families living within the boundaries of the Sequim School District.
The toy giveaway was particularly aimed at the unemployed and working poor, Tidrick said.
Richard Pharr of Sequim said he has been indirectly involved in the annual tradition since he was a child because his parents brought home toys from the giveaway to give to him.
Now the father of four children, Pharr is having a turn picking out a few toys to place under his Christmas tree.
“It is relaxing to know there are places like this to help people,” he said.
It can be difficult to find enough money to purchase presents, he said.
“That is a big reason I am here,” he added.
“I was only able to get [my kids] one good thing this year. Now I can give them a few extras.”
He was guided through the toy aisles by Cindy Bower of Port Angeles, a volunteer “elf” with Sequim Community Aid.
“My friend told me what a great opportunity it was to help the people that really need it this time of year, and any of us could be in that position very quickly,” Bower said.
Helping others is “the reason for the season,” she said.
Some extra help
Lynn Linville of Sequim, mother of three, was attending the giveaway for the first time this year, she said.
The extra presents will help because “I am on Social Security, and my husband works at a minimum-wage job,” she said.
Linville said “it makes me feel really great that they have help out there for kids. It is awesome.”
And her kids “are going to be very excited” when they awake to see their tree stocked with presents Christmas morning, she said.
Linville was paired with volunteer elf Gisela Gala of Sequim.
Gala has been volunteering as an elf for over a decade, she said.
“I love it,” she said.
“I have volunteered all of my life. When you are so blessed yourself, it is so nice that so many of us can give and help others.”
For more information about Sequim Community Aid, a nonprofit established in 1947, phone 360-681-3731.
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Sequim-Dungeness Valley Editor Chris McDaniel can be reached at 360-681-2390, ext. 5052, or cmcdaniel@peninsuladailynews.com.
