It’s toy drive season once more. The Empty Stocking Fund, which is the largest toy drive in North Oakland County, needs your help.
Last year the Empty Stocking Fund provided gifts for more than 6,000 children in the area, making the holiday season a special one for them.
This year, requests for help have been pouring in daily from local families who need a hand up, not a hand out.
Lake Orion’s Bryan Proctor is 11 years old and his sister Kelsey is 14. They both attend Oakview Middle School.
Bryan is a Boy Scout in Troop #186. He started doing this toy drive when he was in Cub Scouts. His den would help wrap the boxes and bring in gifts themselves.
Kelsey is in Girl Scouts and is a Student Ambassador for People to People, an organization that provides opportunities for children around the world to become aware of other cultures.
Her delegation is leaving for a trip in the summer of 2004 to seven countries in Europe.
Bryan and Kelsey aren’t old enough to drive, but old enough to put everything they have into the annual toy drive. They have been collecting toys for the Empty Stocking Fund for five years now.
They help decide what local merchants get asked to participate, as well as pick up toys almost every day during December. They have gone from collecting 278 toys in 1999 to collecting 1,478 toys in 2002.
They year Bryan and Kelsey are hoping for 2,000 toys. That can give 500 kids a nice Christmas, Hanukkah or Kwanzaa.
Some items that could be donated are toys, books, games, school supplies, jewelry, watches, alarm clocks, sporting goods, clothes, health and beauty supplies, and outerwear for children from infants through age 18. The hardest age groups to fill are the older kids.
You can send donations to “The Empty Stocking Fund,” c/o The Proctor Family, 227 Atwater Street, Lake Orion, MI 48362. The Proctor family will pick up donations if mobility or transportation is a problem.
If you would like more information, call Laura at 248-495-4785 or email at scoutingfools@aol.com
Drop off sites are:
Lake Orion
American Legion Post #233, 164 S. Broadway
Curves for Women, 3009 Baldwin Rd.
Jacobsen’s Florist, 545 S. Broadway
Kmart, 1025 South Lapeer Rd.
Kroger, 3097 Baldwin Rd.
Kroger, 460 N. Lapeer Rd.
Orion House Restaurant, 1266 S. Lapeer Rd.
Orion Township Library, 825 Joslyn Rd.
Papa John’s Pizza, 500 N. Lapeer Rd.
Oxford
Big Boy Restaurant, 955 S. Lapeer Rd.
Curves for Women, 21 N. Washington
Oxford Public Library, 530 Pontiac Rd.
Red Knapps American Grill, 2 N. Washington
Auburn Hills
Big Boy Restaurant, 4940 S. Baldwin Rd.
KB Toys, Great Lakes Crossing Mall
Clarkston/Brandon Area
Brandon Public Library, 304 South St.
Bubble Dragon Toys, 5875 Dixie Hwy.
Kroger, 6625 Dixie Hwy.