Times are tough, but bucket truck toy drive rolls on

Now that Thanksgiving leftovers have made your stomach happy, Tom Powell would like to borrow your heart.

Your time and money would be nice, too.

Mr. Powell will arrive at dark-and-early Friday and, with a host of local folks from top cops to disc jockeys, clamber aboard a Dominion Virginia Power bucket truck to be lofted skyward and dangled near U.S. 29 as part of the annual Toy Lift toy drive. They’ll wave at traffic. They’ll talk on the radio. They’ll remind others that without them, this holiday — and the 20th anniversary of the Toy Lift — just might stink.

“It’s bad out there,” Mr. Powell said, bouncing between his computer, car engines and customers at Quick Lane Auto Center, behind Colonial Auto Center on Seminole Trail. “We’ve got more than 3,000 kids in the area that we’re trying to help and that’s the most we’ve ever had. The economy is in the tank. People are losing their jobs. It’s rough.”

Community-driven

Two decades ago, Mr. Powell rose above his gas station repair shop and froze himself in a publicity stunt aimed at getting toys to girls and boys at risk of a lousy Christmas.

It was a success. It has succeeded every year since. It’s because of us, Average Joe or Average Joan who drops a hard-earned $20 bill on toys or takes time to help pack and process thousands of gifts over the weekend, that it is successful. There ain’t no big-name Daddy Warbucks bankrolling this holiday gig. This is all ours.

Unfortunately, it’s Average Family that’s getting hammered the hardest in this economic smackdown.

“My biggest fear is that there isn’t going to be enough stuff,” Mr. Powell admitted. “The number of people needing assistance is up and a lot of the people that helped in years past need help now.”

Things are tough all over. That’s why the Toy Lift hasn’t set a goal for donated toys or cash donations as it has in years past. The toys will be distributed to children identified by area school officials and social services employees.

The Toy Lift will take place in several locations. From 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. it’ll rise from the Charlottesville Fashion Square tarmac; from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the Lauterback Chiropractic Clinic in the Food Lion Shopping Center near Lake Monticello; from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. at Creative Press, 14371 Spotswood Trail, in Ruckersville; and from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. near the Final Touch Tree Service in the Crozet Shopping Center.

This is a festive town

Because of the 20th anniversary celebration, the Toy Lift has been nicknamed the “Festival of the Toy.” That’s in keeping with the area’s festival-headedness from the Festival of the Film, Festival of the Book, Festival of the Photograph and Festival of Cultures, not to mention festivals celebrating vegetarians, dogwoods and chamber music.

“We’re just celebrating how long we’ve been doing this,” Mr. Powell said. “We’d love to have as many people as we can who’ve been volunteers or helped by the Toy Lift to gather at the Fashion Square site at, say noon, and take a picture of the group from a bucket truck. We just want everyone who’s been involved to stop by.”

As long as you’re dropping by, why not drop something off?

“We know it’s not an easy time and all we can ask is that people give if they can,” Mr. Powell said. “There’s a list of most-needed gifts on our Web site or, if people want to give us money, we’ll pick up what the kids need. We get discounts from a lot of local stores.”

If money’s tight, your time is just as valuable. Toy Lift volunteers process presents at each site, sorting and collecting for the weekend of packaging that follows. By next Monday, the toys will be sorted according to child and community and ready for toting to their respective trees.

If people try it, Mr. Powell said, they might like it. Even better, they might get addicted. That, he said, would be great.

“We could use some new blood because a lot of us on the [board of directors] have been doing this for a very long time. We’re getting tired,” he said. “If this year is any indication, there are going to be some challenges in the future. We could use new ideas.”