After the doors officially closed at 7 p.m. on Christmas Eve, Santa’s Toy Shop remained open to host families whose budgets did not allow for even the smallest of gifts.
Only a handful appeared, some, in fact, were friends seeking gifts for those they knew were in dire straits.
Monica Catron and John Cox came in search of toys suitable for friends who recently moved to Iola from Nebraska.
“They weren’t going to have Christmas,” Catron said of the couple and their three children, ages 15, 12 and 2.
“The mom works at Pizza Hut in Garnett. Half of her paycheck goes for gas,” Catron said. Their father is a severe diabetic who has had to be transferred to Olathe twice in the past week for severe reactions.
For these people and the others who came “after hours,” there were no limits, per order of Tracy Keagle, organizer of the free gift-giveaway.
Catron and Cox took their time selecting from a wide array of toys and games that lined the walls as Keagle and her “elves,” Karen Culver, Georgia Masterson and Karla Ingroum, filled their bags. Santa was still on site, giving no sign he may have other matters more pressing.
THOUGH the parents of seven children, Rebecca and Denny Martin, Chanute, were not there to shop for their brood.
“Oh no, we’re fine,” said the jolly Rebecca Martin, though you could sense she understood poverty and its relentless grip.
Instead, the Martins and three of their children came to the Iola shop to select toys and games for neighbors who have eight children “and another due any day now.”
The Martin children, Ian, 10, Abby, 8, and Adam, 6, delighted so much in choosing from the array of toys that one would think they would be the recipients, not someone else.
“Abby, especially, loves to give,” her mother said.
AMANDA and Andy Beck, Mildred, came to the store to shop for their two children ages 11 and 13.
Andy, 33, has been out of work for two months, most recently at Russell Stover Candies. Before that he was working at American Eagle in Ottawa. He’s waiting to hear back from the Walmart distribution center also in Ottawa.
