Santa's elves worked day and night during the summer making toys for good boys and girls to enjoy this Christmas.
Santa dropped a bunch of those toys off at the Christian Community Center in Junior and they're ready to be picked up and placed under the Christmas tree.
Each year, the Heart and Hand House of Philippi conducts the Christmas toy sale for low-income families in Barbour County at its facility in Junior. This year's sale opened last Monday and will close on Wednesday.
Heart and House Director Brenda Hunt said about 120 families participate in the sale each year purchasing toys for more than 300 children. She said the sale is open only to residents of Barbour County because of the limited amount of toys available. She said the toys are offered at a price substantially below the retail price.
"At Christmas, the focus is generally on children and making sure they have gifts under the tree, but we don't often think about the parents and how they feel when they have to rely on someone else to provide those gifts," Hunt said.
"The purpose behind our toy store is to empower families to be more self-sufficient and help build their self-esteem.
"The toy store helps families stretch their buying power by making new toys available at half off regular retail prices or less, which is especially helpful to families with multiple children," Hunt said.
"It also allows the parents to personally choose and purchase gifts for their children.
"In addition, the second week of the toy store is open to all low-income Barbour County residents, so other family members - grandparents, aunts and uncles - have an opportunity to purchase gifts for children in their families, as well."
According to Hunt, many families in the community look forward to the sale each year.
She said Heart and Hand House purchased about half the toys and the other half were donated. Hunt added the proceeds from the sale are put back into a fund to buy toys for next year.
"We believe the Toy Store meets a specific need in our community that is not necessarily met by the typical free toy giveaway program," Hunt said. "There are a number of organizations providing free toys to families who need them, but we have discovered that there are a number of families who want to contribute something themselves. Our toy store tries to honor that spirit of dignity and self-sufficiency."
Aside from toys, several other items are available including gloves, mittens, toboggans and underwear. The sale is made possible through donations from several local businesses and churches, which donate toys and money rather than exchange gifts among themselves, Hunt said.
Hunt said the toys that are not sold during the toy sale would be distributed to the Heart and Hand Thrift stores in Philippi and Belington and are available to anyone, regardless of residency.
"Some people have questioned why we offer the toys for sale instead of just giving them away," Hunt said. "It's a difficult concept to understand, but sometimes 'free' is not always better. When people are able to and want to contribute something, even if it's a small amount, allowing them to do so supports their sense of dignity and encourages self-sufficiency.
"That's a gift that lasts a lot longer than the toys they buy."
The Heart and Hand Community Christian Center is located in Junior at the former Calvary United Methodist Church.
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