Toys for Tots filled its toy deficit after receiving nearly 800 toys and $500 from Lanesboro Correctional Institution on Wednesday.
Lanesboro employees broke up into 10 teams to see which could collect the most toys, using a point system to keep track of their place. Toys were worth one point each, helmets were worth 25 points each and bikes scored the lucky team 50 points.
All together, the teams collected 740 toys, 53 bikes and 39 helmets, according to prison administrator David Mitchell. Staff presented the collection to Anson County Toys for Tots organizer Vancine Sturdivant.
Inmates also chipped in. The Men’s Alliance Club donated $500 to the cause.
“Are you serious?” Sturdivant cried as she heard the total number of donations.
Team 5 took first place in the prison’s competition, earning 1,401 points. Team 1 was close behind with 1,297 points.
“Some of you know that I lost my husband on Sept. 18, and I was not able to go to Quantico [Va.] this year for the Toys for Tots training because of my husband’s accident,” Sturdivant said. “So I wasn’t there to apply for the supplemental toys, but prayed and prayed to God because we have so many kids to bless this year.”
Sturdivant said that every family that applied for toys will receive them.
“A child don’t put itself in that situation,” she said. “All they know is that if Santa don’t come, you were a bad child. You don’t know what this will do.”
Sturdivant said that before this donation was made, there was a large shortage of toys and money to buy them, but that this filled the deficit.
The prison’s Men’s Alliance Club is made up of about 22 inmates who raise money through fundraisers such as food sales, Mitchell said. The club has to donate 10 percent of its profits to charity, and all of the members agreed to send it to Toys for Tots.
Mitchell said the club asked for two things in return: pictures of the toys they bought and a “shoutout” so that those outside the prison know that inmates aren’t all bad. This club formed earlier this year.
This the third year that Lanesboro staff have donated to Toys for Tots, and their donation numbers have increased since then. They donated 532 toys and 18 bikes last year, compared to the 740 toys, 53 bikes and 39 helmets they gave this year.
“Our business is service to the state,” Mitchell said. “This is an opportunity to extend that service to local communities.”
Mitchell said that the staff’s friendly competition helps make donating more fun and encourages participation, increasing the number of donations the prison can give.
Reach reporter Imari Scarbrough at 704-994-5471 and follow her on Twitter @ImariScarbrough.
