Cheer & Toy Shop gears up for Christmas distribution
Published 5:30 pm Thursday, December 1, 2022
- Moultrie Kiwanis Club President Alicia Horkan, right, welcomes guest speaker Stephanie Hardy from the Children’s Cheer and Toy Shop during the club’s Thursday meeting. Hardy spoke about the shop’s upcoming distribution day on Tuesday, Dec. 13.
MOULTRIE, Ga. — The Kiwanis Club of Moultrie welcomed Stephanie Hardy, representing the Children’s Cheer and Toy Shop, as its Thursday meeting’s guest speaker.
Hardy, from Thomasville, serves as a social worker at Cox Elementary School. She has worked with the Children’s Cheer and Toy Shop for eight years with the last three years serving as a board member.
The Children’s Cheer and Toy Shop, located at 589 Industrial Drive, works yearly to provide Colquitt County families with toys and gifts for the holiday season. The families must have completed a Children’s Cheer and Toy Shop application and undergone approval to receive the gifts.
This year’s distribution day is Tuesday, Dec. 13. The shop’s doors will open at 8 a.m. and close at 6 p.m.
“To see the faces on those parents and aunties and grandmas and uncles who come to that line just to get a bag of toys for those babies. It is absolutely the most rewarding thing I’ve ever done,” Hardy told club members.
There are two time slots for toy pick-up, one starting at 8 a.m. and the other at noon. The organizers urge participating families to pay attention to which slot their school is scheduled for pickups, the shop’s Facebook post said.
“We have runners, those are the ones who go get the toys, and we’ll take them straight out to the cars. [The families] don’t have to do anything but sit there and drive,” Hardy said.
Families who miss their initial pickup date and time slot can return on Dec. 15 for the pickup makeup day.
“The social workers are really good about if a parent [does] not come. We will still pull those toys, take them back to our schools, and we will call those families and say ‘Hey, you know you missed the distribution day. We have your toys here at our schools,’” she said to the club members. “We don’t want to leave anyone out.”
The shop is still accepting toy donations, but only in new condition. They no longer accept used toys due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Book donations are also appreciated.
Volunteers are needed for distribution day. Anyone is welcome to report to the Children’s Cheer and Toy Shop on Dec. 13 to help.
