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 Previous: The K7RA Solar Update | ![Next (later) Story](/images/sty-up.gif ""SuitSat" Launch from International Space Station Delayed"){kind=small} Next: "SuitSat" Launch from International Space Station Delayed |
NEWINGTON, CT, Nov 23, 2005--ARRL/The Salvation Army 2005 Holiday Toy Drive warehouse volunteer Joe Lowenthal, WA4OVO, says donated toys now are arriving fast and furious in Memphis. On November 18, a shipment arrived containing 573 toys. The pace continued this week.
"We got slammed again!" he told ARRL Headquarters about the shipment that arrived Tuesday, November 22. "Twenty-nine boxes packed with over 500 toys arrived in one day. We could not inventory it all in until the following morning."
ARRL Media and Public Relations Manager Allen Pitts, W1AGP, says ham radio clubs and individual radio amateurs know a good cause when they see it and have been responding very generously. "I told you you'd need all 30 of your volunteers," he told Lowenthal. "Judging from the reports we are getting of the totals, we're going to need a second truck."
The League has partnered with The Salvation Army for this year's effort to bring some holiday cheer to children left homeless or displaced in the aftermath of hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Country music artist Patty Loveless, KD4WUJ, is the Holiday Toy Drive's national chairperson. At the Memphis collection site, ARRL Delta Division Vice Director Henry Leggette, WD4Q, and warehouse volunteers like Lowenthal are staying very busy.
Indeed, toys have continued to arrive from all over the US, and Lowenthal is hoping that by the time all is said and done--the donation deadline is Saturday, December 10--he'll have seen a shipment of donated toys from every state in the union.
"So far we have 23 states and the Virgin Islands sending in toys for this great charity endeavor," Lowenthal reported. States represented so far include Alaska, Arizona, California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, North Carolina, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and Vermont.
"Let's get toys from all 50 states, so the entire country is represented," he urged.
Pitts says many non-hams have joined in the spirit after hearing that the drive was focusing on Gulf Coast children. The ham volunteers will empty the warehouse, pack the trucks and head south to The Salvation Army facilities on Thursday, December 15.
One contribution of some 530 stuffed animals came from The Mid-South Presbytery. Lowenthal says Hugh Wardlaw, WB4SLI, was responsible for obtaining the donation from his Memphis/Mid-South church group, which had collected them for Katrina victims, but did not have a distribution method.
Radio amateurs are invited to send new unwrapped toys for boys and girls aged 1 to 14 to: ARRL Toy Drive/The Salvation Army, 1775 Moriah Woods Blvd--Suite 12, Memphis, TN 38117-7125. Include a QSL card or a card bearing your call sign.
ARRL invites its members to send cash donations, if they prefer, to: ARRL Toy Drive, 225 Main St, Newington, CT 06111.
The ARRL asks all radio amateurs to make the holiday season a little bit brighter for kids affected by hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Maybe it can't be a new home to live in, but knowing that someone "out there" cares is a start for these children.
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