Letter to Editor: Beach Cities Toy Drive

Letter to Editor,

On behalf of my entire Beach Cities Toy Drive Committee, thank you to everyone who donated a toy, wrote a check, or wrapped a toy until there were none left at our .

The event culminated in the collection of approximately 3,000 toys. The toys are going to underprivileged kids in the Los Angeles area. We collect these toys from charitable folks in the Beach Cities who drop them off at the Hermosa Beach and Manhattan Beach fire stations. 

From there, the toys are transferred to a huge sea container which is emptied at the Dec. 17 wrapping party.

That is a day and place where people stroll in, wrap, eat, and are merry all at the same time. How we get away with it every year is a miracle.

All of the toys, save a small number, are wrapped and distributed to recognized charities including the 1736 House, Richstone, UCLA Child Crisis Center, L.A. County Toy Loan Program, and the Good Shepherd Center for Women.

About 100 people came to the Community Center Gym in Hermosa this year, wrapped toys, saw old friends, and left with warm souls and well-deserved praise.

For their efforts, people enjoyed donated food from our local restaurants, such as Sharkeez, Palmilla, Café Boogaloo, Gum Tree, The Mermaid, Sangria, Patrick Molloy’s, Mediterraneo, Cantina Real, and Silvio’s Barbeque.

As far as gift wrappers and donors go, the Hermosa Beach Chamber of Commerce, Women’s Club of Hermosa, and the Junior Kiwanis also known as the Builder’s Club were a tremendous help. Dr. Warren Barr once again ran a victory lap around the gym for sporting the oldest, commemorative wrapping party t-shirt from our second year in 1994.

Last, a special thanks goes to the Hermosa Cyclery which, for another straight year, donated 30 brand-new bicycles. It warms my heart to know that several kids in Los Angeles who would otherwise do without are getting those new bikes for the holidays.

See you at the Joslyn Center in Manhattan Beach with a toy next year!

Sam Y. Edgerton, III