Saturday at 10 a.m., the Institute of Applied Technology at Fort Hays State University and volunteers will build some 200 wooden cars to be given to area youth at the annual Fred P. Ruda Toys for Tots Day in Davis Hall on the FHSU campus.
Volunteers are encouraged to join the faculty and students of the Institute of Applied Technology at FHSU in assembling the cars.
“Kids from eight to 80 are invited,” said Duane Renfrow, event director and associate professor in the Institute of Applied Technology.
60 to 65 volunteers are needed to complete the job in an estimated two hours and volunteers may come and go as they please, according to Renfrow.
“It is a good way for the community of all ages to come together for a short time and have the feeling of giving back to the community in the Christmas season. It is a giving of ourselves,” Renfrow said.
The more hazardous jobs will be completed by the faculty and students, but there will also be an abundance of opportunities for others to help, no matter their skill level with woodworking, according to Renfrow.
Children under the age of 12 need to be accompanied by an adult.
Once the toys are completed, they will be given to the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots Program for distribution within Ellis County. The mission of the Toys for Tots Program is to collect new toys to be distributed as Christmas gifts to less fortunate children.
Toys for Tots was approved as an official activity of the U.S. Marine Corps in 1995, and by 1996 it had expanded to all 50 states. More information about Toys for Tots can be obtained at their website, toysfortots.org.
The Toys for Tots Day was named in honor of Fred P. Ruda. Ruda was chair of the Technology Studies Department at FHSU until his death in 2012. He was in his thirty-ninth year of teaching at FHSU and had been department chair for 33 years.
“He was really the main influence in this project. It was his baby. He really felt like this was something we needed to do, so we followed along with that. With his excitement and dedication to this project, we decided to name it in his honor,” Renfrow said, referring to Ruda.
This is the twenty-fifth year for the Toys for Tots Day at FHSU. “For the 25th year anniversary, the original race car of the first year is being reproduced,” Renfrow said, with small safety modifications.
Each year a different toy design is made. Past toys have included cars, segmented snakes, tractors, a bug box on wheels, and double-jointed wiener dogs with a pull string.
“I still think a wooden toy can hold meaning to kids, even without buttons or being able to fight a war with it. Sometimes simple is still good,” Renfrow said.