Rain, Cool Temps Can’t Stop Toys For Tots Program
WARSAW — There wasn’t enough rain in the world to dampen the spirits of local firefighters, law enforcement officers and other volunteers Saturday morning, Dec. 1 as representatives of nearly every fire department and police agency converged on Martin’s Supermarket as part of an annual event to support Toys For Tots.
A contingent of nearly two dozen emergency vehicles, which congregated at the parking lot of J.B.’s Furniture and then caravanned to the south side of Martin’s Supermarket to drop off toys collected by each department.
Bryce Good, a firefighter with Seward Township Fire Department and one of the organizers of the event, said that nearly every emergency response organization in the Kosciusko County was represented at the event, which took place amidst dark skies and constant rainfall.
“If they weren’t here with a truck, they probably donated,” said Good. “It was an awesome turnout. Our firefighters in this community are fantastic. Everyone one of them came out of the woodwork to make this happen and it’s all for the kids. We always put them first.”
Good said the annual event is a continuation of something that was previously chaired by Dave Sheets, who retired from firefighting.
“We kinda headed it up because one of our own firemen, Dave Sheets, was the chairman for awhile. He really headed this up,” said Good.
Kyle Miller, also a member of Seward Township’s department, was pleased with the results. “It was a very good year,” he said. “We enjoyed doing it. The kids are the motivation for every firefighter in this department. That’s one of the things that we like to do is support kids in our area and this is an awesome opportunity to do that.”
Aside from firefighters and police officers, other volunteers, including some youngsters, pitched in to help off-load the large collection of toys from each emergency vehicle and transport them to awaiting box trucks for transportation to needy children.