Second annual toy giveaway planned for December
Miss Ida’s House of Care and Love, in conjunction with The Giving Team Inc., is preparing for its Second Annual Toy Give-A-Way: Sugar Plum Holiday Celebration, giving out toys to children 12 years old and younger.
Miss Ida’s began in 2017 as a vision given by Ida V. Fort-Thompson to her daughter, Lisa Regina Wade, who founded the nonprofit to provide services for individuals and families who require a more structured secure environment, ranging from recovery from surgery, physical disability support and care for dementia patients, in a “homelike atmosphere and feel,” according to the organization’s Facebook page and its website.
Last year “we gave out 300 toys to 200 families that signed up,” Wade said, noting this year their goal is “500 children or 300 families, whichever one comes first.”
“We started this last year, The Giving Team, Inc. and Miss Ida’s House partnered, and we started giving toys. And it just blew up real fast,” she said.
Anyone interested in registering can call now until Dec. 10 “and we will take down their name and how many kids they have,” Wade said. “It’s for 12 and under, but if they have siblings in that household, from 13 to 17, they all get a gift, as well.”
Those interested in making a toy donation “can drop them off here or you can call me and I’ll come pick them up. So either way, we’ll get them,” Wade said.
Toys will be given out on Dec. 18 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Food for Thought event on the corner of Church Street and Malvern Avenue in the parking lot across from Habitat for Humanity.
Janice Davis, founder and president of the Giving Team, Inc. said the event started out as a desire to do something for the community.
“We don’t just deal with the homeless,” she said. “It’s the marginalized, it’s the underserved, it’s people that don’t have. Last year was the pandemic, and it’s still the pandemic. So there are still people who don’t have for their children. So as Black nonprofits, we felt like we needed to do something. We service the community.”
To register, call Miss Ida’s House at 501-547-7462 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.