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Thursday, January 20, 2005

Moriarty Toy Drive Had Best Christmas Yet

By Beth Hahn
Mountain View Telegraph
    The Moriarty Fire Department's annual toy drive enjoyed its biggest year by far during the recent holiday season.
    The department has conducted the toy drive for local children for the last four years. In each of the last two years, the department managed to collect about 600 toys, said Moriarty Fire Chief Karl Ehl.
    In 2004, however, that number almost doubled thanks to a partnership with about 30 local businesses. Ehl said more than 1,000 toys were collected in its annual "Toys 4 Joy" holiday toy drive.
    Several local businesses, including one at Clines Corners, had boxes near cash registers where customers could drop off new toys. Ehl said some business owners even donated several toys themselves to fill their boxes.
    "The quality of some of these toys was amazing," said Ehl. "We're not talking dollar store toys, we're talking $10-$20 toys."
    In previous years, the fire department would split the toys among local churches and let them distribute the goodies as they saw fit. One problem with that system, Ehl said, was determining how many toys to give to each church.
    This year the department teamed up with the Bethel Community Storehouse, which Ehl said could have also affected donations.
    "Bethel is pretty well known around here and people know that when they give to Bethel, it stays in the valley," he said.
    In the early stages of developing a toy drive four years ago, Ehl said, fire department personnel looked into the U.S. Marines' "Toys for Tots" program, but were told that all toys collected would be distributed in Albuquerque.
    But Ehl said the idea was to help Estancia Valley children who might otherwise not receive any toys for Christmas.
    "We wanted to do something locally," he explained.
    In 2005, Ehl said, his department may team up with the Mountainair Police Department and expand the drive to cover more of the valley's communities.
    Meanwhile, there are thank-you letters to be written and officials to contact in other communities, he said.
    To view a list of businesses that participated and pictures of the toy drive, visit the Moriarty Fire Department Web site at www.moriartyfire.com.