American Legion Riders Chapter 50 donates $2,000 to the Toy Bank of Greater Paso Robles
NORTH COUNTY — It is the season of giving, and the community definitely showed up to give on Monday, Dec. 5, at the Paso Robles Public Safety Center.
Paso Robles Fire and Emergency Services showed their support alongside KSBY for the 11th Annual “Season of Hope” Food and Toy Drive. In the firehouse accepting donations were the Toy Bank of Greater Paso Robles, Coats for Kids, and the SLO Food Bank.
Each year KSBY teams up with local food banks, toy agencies, fire departments, the California Highway Patrol and sponsors to put together a community-wide food and toy drive for the Central Coast.
For over 20 years, Coats for Kids and the Toy Bank of Greater Paso Robles has partnered together to serve the North County community. On Saturday, Dec. 10, the two nonprofits will be distributing toys and coats at the “Day of Giving” at the Paso Robles Events Center.
“The word is the numbers are up,” says Coats for Kids Founder Barbie Butz when referring to the number of families in need.
The mission of Coats for Kids has always been to distribute warm items such as coats, jackets, sweaters, and sweatshirts directly to North County families, not just kids, in need. They serve over 750 families each year.
Toy Bank of Greater Paso Robles Chair and Day of Giving Coordinator Amanda Bean tells Paso Robles Press/Atascadero News that while the need is up, they are grateful for fewer COVID regulations restricting their Day of Giving.
Since 1994, the toy bank has brought joy to local children in need. The Toy Bank provides toys, games, playground balls, stuffed animals, books, arts and crafts, and more for approximately 1,400 to 1,600 children each year on the Day of Giving. They also partner with The Salvation Army to provide grocery gift cards for families in Paso Robles, San Miguel, Bradley, Creston, Shandon, and Heritage Ranch.
The community-based and volunteer-run organization will be celebrating their 27th Day of Giving this Saturday. However, this is a bittersweet year for the nonprofit as it is the first one without their longtime and great supporter Bill Pluma.
“This year is a little bit challenging in the sense that we lost one of our members from our board who was involved for a long time. We lost Bill Pluma last year,” explains Bean.
Throughout preparation for the Day of Giving, Bean and the volunteers behind the nonprofit find themselves continuously trying to fill Pluma’s shoes.
“We definitely have missed his presence,” says Bean.
Bean herself has been involved with the nonprofit since she was in Girl Scouts, which introduced her to the organization. She has been serving on the board for 10 years.
“I love Christmas,” says Bean. “I went to school to be an event planner so I enjoy doing events and it is fairly easy its fun to do and it helps make sure that kids have fun at Christmas.”
It was a successful donation night for all of the nonprofit organizations. On Monday night, the American Legion Riders Chapter 50 donated $2,000 to the toy bank and another $2,000 to SLO Food Bank. Additionally, one patron brought a truck and trailer full of bikes and toys for the toy bank — their very own secret Santa.
For more information on the Toy Bank of Greater Paso Robles visit prtoybank.org/welcome and for information on Coats for Kids visit coatsforkidsslocounty.org. Visit slofoodbank.org for information on the SLO Food Bank.
