If you happen by Les Schwab Tires on Viking Avenue anytime in December, you might think it’s a toy store.
“That’s what happens,” said manager Brett Clark. “We have such compassionate customers that this place doesn’t look like a tire store around the holidays. It looks like a toy store.”
Clark was referring to the toy drive the business has from Dec. 1-16. Anyone in the area is encouraged to bring in a new, unwrapped toy to be given to children in need. The toy drive is something that Clark and all other Les Schwab employees are passionate about.
“We collect toys each year to be given to children who otherwise might not have a Christmas,” he said. “It’s about sharing the season with others.”
The store’s participation began about three years ago when all 88 Les Schwab stores in Western Washington collected toys for the Forgotten Children’s Fund.
The Forgotten Children’s Fund is a national organization that began when a young boy wrote a letter to Santa and left it in a diner. The letter told about how his mother told him not to be surprised if Santa couldn’t find him because the family had moved so many times that year.
Obviously, the mother was trying to explain why he wouldn’t be getting any toys, but the real reason was because there was no money. This prompted a group to begin the Forgotten Children’s Fund.
The first year, the 88 Les Schwab stores in this region collected 35,000 toys. That was plenty and the toys were distributed throughout western Washington. But that led Clark to think about a toy drive for the local community that he could run from his Les Schwab location.
So he partnered with Kitsap Community Resources and their Angel Tree program. This year will be the second year that the store’s toy collection will benefit the Angel Tree.
It operates much the same way. Donate new, unwrapped toys at any Les Schwab in Kitsap County, and those toys will be given to children and families in need through Kitsap Community Resources, a nonprofit organzation.
“Parents who need help can go to KCR and choose the items that they need,” he said. He added that the Seattle Les Schwab stores still collect toys for the Forgotten Children’s Fund.
As for how many toys are needed, Clark simply replied “millions.”
“We’ll take as many as we can get,” he said. “We can always find a home where they are needed.”
Clark and some of his family and a few employees also spend Christmas Eve dressed as elves and travel with Santa to deliver toys to some families.
All of the toys collected are “based on the generosity of our customers,” he said.
“This really isn’t about Les Schwab,” he said. “This is about our customers.”
He said, while it would be easier for anyone to just donate money online, he thinks going out and actually selecting a toy and delivering it to a Les Schwab store is the special part about the drive.
“Everybody has giving inside them,” he said. “Some just don’t know how to do it.
“That’s why we’re here — to see that the Christmas spirit gets to all those who need it the most.”
Les Schwab is also collecting food donations for local food banks. Stop by with canned or boxed items and look for the bin with the “Food for All” sign.
— Holiday Hearts is a column that will run periodically in Kitsap News Group newspapers. If you or your business, community group or organization is doing something special to help others this holiday season, submit the details to lkelly@soundpublishing.com.
