By BECKY KISER
Hays Post
Christmas is assured to be special for many underprivileged Ellis County children, thanks to the Teaming Up For Tots (TUFT) volunteers.
Low-income families were invited to sign up at the Community Assistance Center (CAC) in Hays for the annual program which provides two age-appropriate gifts per child, a toy and clothing.
Special Christmas trees filled with blue and pink paper angels included the suggestions for each child as designated by a parent. This year, the Angel Trees were placed at Walmart, Big Creek Crossing, Walgreens and First Kansas Bank. Residents could select an angel, purchase the requested item, and then drop off the unwrapped gift.
The gifts are given anonymously, according to Shauna Zweifel, TUFT president and Hays Middle School assistant principal.
“Each family has a designated number, along with the child’s age, toy suggestion, and clothing size,” Zweifel explained. “Usually we run around 160 to 170 families we help each year.”
Downtown Hays business owners Shaun and Heather Musil have helped with TUFT for nearly 20 years.
This year, they’ve offered the gift-givers 20 percent off any retail item when the presents are dropped off at their Paisley Pear store, 1100 Main.
Shaun Musil first started volunteering with TUFT when he worked for Coca-Cola Bottling in Victoria.
“I’ll never forget the time a young kid came in. He had saved up his newspaper money to buy a gift,” Musil said. “To me, that’s what makes this worthwhile doing.”
After 20 years, Heather Musil believes the group’s leadership has the project pretty well worked out.
“The families always enjoy coming and picking up their gifts,” she noted. “We work really hard the night before making sure every kid gets what they asked for on their angel.
If an angel is not selected or a gift not returned, cash donations from local businesses are used to purchase what is still needed. “We always make a lot of trips to Walmart. It is so much fun to shop for those gifts.”
The TUFT work night is Friday.
Families will pick up their gifts, the wrapping paper which is donated by Walmart, and CAC Christmas food baskets the next day, Saturday, Dec. 15.
“Picking up on a Saturday is something different than we’ve done in the past,” Zweifel said. “This year we decided to try and make it a little bit easier for the families. They’ll be able to pick up the gifts and then swing by and pick up the food baskets as well.”
“We give the gifts out to the families early enough in December so that they have time to wrap them, making it more personable, and make sure that their Christmas looks special versus getting it to them the night before Christmas,” said Heather.
Included with the gifts are wood piggy banks made this year by the Fort Hays State University Center for Applied Technology students, staff and community volunteers for children ages 2 to 6.
“We feel the families in Ellis County are very grateful for the angels and the gifts that the community has provided.”