Santa Claus will come visit all children, but especially those children in need from all over the Minden-South Webster area.
The Minden Civitan Club, in conjunction with the Young Women’s Service Club, is collecting toys for children for Christmas.
Janis Bryan, past president of the Civitans, said the toy drive is about giving and making sure children have a gift to open on Christmas morning.
“It just makes you feel good to give, and that’s what Christmas is about,” she said.
Collection boxes are all over the Minden area, and toys are delivered by the Minden Police Department.
Civitan Santa began as a service project for members in the 1940s when the club was first formed, Bryan said.
“Every year, we collect names of children and go out and buy toys,” she said. “We’ll go about 10 or 11 at night and buy five or six shopping carts full of toys. We come back and unload them, and then the next night we start packing them.”
The age appropriate toys are matched with names of the children and their families, and then right before Christmas, Santa comes in the form of Minden police officers and delivers the toys to the families.
The Civitans and the YWSC will be accepting new, unwrapped toys until Dec. 14. They can be delivered to the Minden Police Department or to any Minden Civitan member. Some businesses will also have drop off boxes for toys.
Cash donations may be sent to Minden Civitan Club, P.O. Box 95, Minden, LA 71058.
For those who need application forms, they may be picked up at the police department, the Webster Community Action offices or at the local UCAP office. Applications will be considered for children through age 13.
Last year, more than 600 in 227 families benefited from the program.
“We are able to run this program due to the generosity of local businesses and individuals who donated money, plus hundreds of dollars worth of new toys for children,” Ed LaBruyere, toy chairman, said.