Probation office donates more than 300 toys to VAC
Toys in exchange for community service hours
Calhoun’s Department of Community Supervision Probation Office donated more than 300 toys to the Voluntary Action Center on Thursday afternoon. The toys were collected as part of the agency’s annual Christmas community service project and will be distributed to families who’ve signed up for the VAC’s Christmas assistance programs, according to Officer Sarah Parks, who planned this year’s project.
“The idea was that anyone under supervision who’d been assigned community service hours could donate toys in exchange for community service hours,” Parks said. “Over 1,200 hours of community service were given in exchange for toy and gift donations.”
Getting those with service hours to participate in the toy drive was surprisingly easy, Parks said. Most people jumped at the opportunity to do something nice for children in need in the community.
“We always provide multiple opportunities and service options for them to choose from when they’re working off community service hours,” she said. “We do have many places in the county where they can get involved but it seemed like any time I mentioned this project, that’s what they wanted to do.”
In total, 334 toys were donated, with items ranging from Mr. Potato Head dolls and Rescue Runts stuffed animals to basketballs and baby dolls.
The total value of the gifts, Parks said, came out to $3,702.
Park said she hopes to plan projects similar to this one going forward, utilizing a “holistic approach” to community supervision.
“We believe in partnering with resource providers in the community to make supervision more impactful,” she said. “This is just one of the ways we do that.”