Community adds to Tot's final tally
Renee Dixon was determined that the children at the Indianapolis preschool where she serves as director would not go without this past Christmas.
The daughter of a single mom, Dixon knew what it's like to not have enough and to get little, if anything at Christmas. As an adult, she understands the struggles her mother went through, about bills and budgets, about needs and wants.
She was determined to make sure that didn't happen to "her kids," she said in a story on goodnewsnetwork.org.
So, in the months leading up to Christmas, she created a profile on the ride-sharing apps, Uber and Lyft, to drive on the weekends to make a little extra money.
“So many of our families don’t have money to get Christmas presents this year. Some parents have lost their jobs, others have had their wages cut back,” Dixon told The Washington Post, according to the website. “A lot of them already come from low-income families and are below the poverty line.”
With her students' parents struggling amid the global pandemic, Dixon told news outlets that she knew that what money the families had would go toward bills and not presents. She wasn't able to let her students miss out on the magic of Christmas and immediately set up the profiles.
Every weekend, Dixon would get into her car and wait for passengers. If things were slow, she'd had to the downtown to wait for rides. By the time Christmas rolled around, she had raised enough money to buy each of the school's students two presents (one from the school and one for the family or Santa to give out), presents for her students' siblings and a small bonus for her teachers.
And that's when the community decided to step in to give Dixon a Christmas present of her own.
Pat Hurst, general manager of the Andy Mohr Nissan dealership in Avon, learned that a Nissan Armada was on Dixon's Christmas wish list and decided to play Santa as well. Hurst called up Dixon and asked her to come down to the dealership because he wanted to give her something.
When she got there — Hurst handed her the keys to her dream car and told Dixon it was hers.
Just like Dixon, Hurst and all those who helped make Christmas magic come alive for those Indianapolis preschool students, so, too, do Sandpoint Lions and local residents and businesses through the club's annual Toys for Tots drive. So, it shouldn't be a surprise really that more donations came in after Christmas — amounting to $5,656.21 — to boost the campaign's total to $55,813.55 for the year.
Additional donations were received from: mmbers of CWA Local 7670 and Ziply Fiber Employees, $270; Pierce Automotive, $90.05; Delwyn and Mary Goff, $50; Kenneth and Kathleen Conger, $100; Eric and Barbara Parker, $20; anonymous, $50;
Larsons Inc., $1,000; Inland Forest Management, Inc., $200; Big Lake Recreation, Inc., $250; Northern Management Services, Inc., $500; Bonner County Democratic Central Committee, $100; Catherine Detzer, $50; Ann Kritzeck, $150; anonymous, $1,000; David and Candace Tate, $100; anonymous, $100; Shirley Chatfield, $100; Kevin Murray, $150; Lynn and Terry Jensen, $50;
Larry and Linda Bergo, $300; Douglas and Janice Mueller, $100; Jack and Catherine Raynor (in loving memory of their grandson Cam A. Raynor), $25; Julie Smith, $300; Esther and Larry Inselman, $25; Deborah A. Kain, $100; Riley Resources LLC, $100; James and Barbara Rolph, $25; Bob and Susie Puckett (in memory of our grandson Bryce Puckett), $50; Sarah Miller, $85; and from coin jars, Hoot Owl, $111; Dairy Depot, $38.11; and Coleman 76, $67.05.
The Toys for Tots program provides free new toys for children living in the Lake Pend Oreille School District, from Sandpoint to Clark Fork and all points in-between. A Christmas dinner for the family is also provided.
Information: Sandpoint Lions Club, 208-263-4118
Caroline Lobsinger can be reached by email at clobsinger@bonnercountydailybee. com and follow her on Twitter @CarolDailyBee.