Every child deserves a Christmas that is magical, fun, and exciting. Santa’s Toy Shop takes that mission to heart, and this year we will celebrate its sixth year.
Three years ago Humanity House expanded our Santa’s Toy Shop program and began lighting up the trees on the square. Our goal was to bring lights and a little holiday magic to the Iola courthouse lawn. Last year we added to the beauty from the year before and had more trees and lights. Young and old alike enjoyed driving past the courthouse lawn or walking down the sidewalks and being surrounded by thousands of lights in the starry trees.
This year we are adding even more light trees, lighting up the bandstand, and taking this magical view of Christmas to the Humboldt square. We are excited for this project and plans are drawn up and ready to go. This, like every Humanity House project, is a community project. Without your help, none of this would ever happen. And you can help by adopting a tree.
To adopt a tree is to light up a child’s eyes or to bring memories of Christmases past to an elderly person. An individual or family can adopt a tree for $20 and help give a gift to the community.
When our volunteers put this together, there is a lot of laughter, head scratching, discussion, sweat, and freezing fingers involved. But what’s also involved is a lot of love for Iola, the surrounding towns in Allen County, and for all of the people who live here.
We imagine families taking a drive after a Thanksgiving dinner together and stopping on the square to take a stroll through the lighted trees. We imagine an elderly couple who doesn’t have the resources or energy to decorate for Christmas, taking a drive by the square and remembering Christmases from long ago when their children were young and the excitement of the season was in the air. We imagine young couples, just starting out, bringing their children to look at all the lights. We imagine a person who has no family and not much income who is living alone, coming by to sit on the square and feel the holiday spirit.
We love the people in our county, rich, poor, young, old, no matter their religion, race or political view. We hope that our deeds prove our words and thoughts.
There is great goodness in attending to the happiness of others. Great joy to be found in giving a gift for many to enjoy. That kind of giving lifts you up, lifts up others, and it inspires others to do the same.
If you feel that adopting a tree is something you or your family would like to do this year, please contact Humanity House at 620-380-6664 or stop by our office at 509 N. State. We can also be messaged on our Facebook page. A laminated Christmas card will be attached to your tree with your Christmas message written on it. We wish you the happiest of holiday seasons.
Kindness matters!
