POLK COUNTY, Fla. — Polk County’s Toys for Tots director is spending up to 70 hours a week this time of the year to make sure many kids in need have a great Christmas.
Angela Davis took over the volunteer position several years ago after former director David Waller passed away.
Davis had been a volunteer for the organization when Waller called her as she was preparing to play a round of golf.
He told her to put away her clubs and to come see him in the hospital. When she got to the hospital, he told her about the brain tumor that would soon claim his life. He asked her to take over the Polk Toys for Tots program.
“How can you say no?” she said. “Look at what this program does. The impact it makes. How could you say no?”
Davis took the bull by the horns and got aggressive with fundraising and organizing. The program operates out of a huge warehouse in Auburndale. Toys for Tots will provide presents to more than 15,000 children from low-income families this year.
“All right, guys. That one’s full already. Goodness. You are good,” said Davis to some volunteers on a recent morning as they were filling up boxes with stuffed animals. “They are preparing stuffed animals that we will give out to all children between two and seven,” she said.
Each child gets a set of gifts based on the application that is filled out by their parent or guardian.
David grabbed one of the “shopping lists” and headed out to the tables filled with gifts based on categories. Her list was for a boy.
“He’s nine years old. This is appropriate for a child eight plus,” she said as she held up a board game. “And based on what the child told me, this might be a good match for this young guy.”
Literacy is a year-round effort by Toys for Tots, so children will also get a book with their gifts.
Dozens of volunteer shoppers gather up gifts based on the lists and place them into black garbage bags with a label. That way, if a child is with their parent or guardian when they pick up the gifts, the child hopefully won’t be aware that the bag is full of gifts for them.
Davis said she is hyper-focused on every detail of Toys for Tots. Her family tells her she becomes a little OCD.
“You must be into the details. We are trying to serve these families,” said Davis. “We don’t want to make a mistake. We want to give these kids something special on one of the best days of the year. So of course, I have to be OCD.”
However, she can have a softer side when approaching her work, getting emotional as she talked about the kids.
“You know, they say there is something about the impact of doing something for a stranger and the impact it makes on you,” she said. “And I have all these wonderful people who have come in to help me make a change in a child’s life.”
Rick Elmhorst
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