December 20, 2006
By Barry Simmons

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Sandra Schmitt waited 16 hours on the doorstep of Sixty-First Avenue United Methodist Church to be the first in line for its annual "Last Minute Toy Store."

"Without this, the kids wouldn't have anything," Schmitt said.

A single mother of four, Schmitt filed into the church's fellowship hall, which had been converted into a bulging storehouse containing 14,000 donated toys and clothes for needy children.

Schmitt was looking for a CD player for her son and make-up kits for her daughters. "Four kids are pretty expensive," she said. "And I couldn't do it on my own."

For four days each December, volunteers arrive at the church before dawn. Parents are already lined up outside, waiting to receive a limited number of tickets for admission to the toy store. Many, like Schmitt, arrive the night before and sleep in lawn chairs.

Once inside, parents are paired with a volunteer who navigates them past the rows of basketballs, baby dolls, stuffed animals and board games. In addition to the toys, parents are given stocking stuffers, a bag of oranges and candy canes.

This year, organizers expect to serve 1,200 families from the Nashville area.

Chandra Patton arrived with a Christmas list for her five children and four foster children. Unable to buy gifts for them on her salary, Patton came to the toy store for help. She left with several garbage bags stuffed with teddy bears, books and body wash.

"Nine kids," she says, "sometimes it's a struggle. So this helped us a lot. It really did."

As parents moved down the aisles, an assembly line of volunteers in the back was unloading more toys from a truck sent by Toys for Tots. Area churches and individuals also donated items. The Rev. Paul Slentz, pastor of the church, said the value of the donated gifts – all new and still in their boxes – exceeds $100,000.

"Every parent wants toys for their children at Christmas time. We all know that," he said. "This is a way of relieving that financial stress."

The toy store is staffed by volunteers from more than 20 Nashville-area United Methodist churches. During their orientation, Doc Hooks read them letters left last year by parents. "If it weren't for people like you," one of the letters read, "Christmas would certainly not be special for children in need."

One of the volunteers, Irene Carrera, shopped here last year for her son Jonathan. This year, both of them are helping. "Giving back really does feel a whole lot better than receiving," she said.

Thirteen million American children – 17 percent – live below the federal poverty level, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Twenty-one percent of children in Tennessee live below the poverty level.

The toy store began 12 years ago at the request of families in the West Nashville neighborhood, which is wedged between Interstate 40 and the Preston Taylor housing projects.

Last year, the church provided gifts to 3,276 Nashville-area children. The church expects to exceed that number this year.

"This time of year is really hard," says Carrera, "and nobody wants their children to wake up without anything."

"It's a real blessing to us," Schmitt said.

United Methodist News Service
Barry Simmons is a freelance producer in Nashville, Tenn.