Team Volunteers: Toys for God's Kids

~Program design by Kate Quigley Volunteer Supervisor~

Team Volunteers: Car Manufactuing in Dayton Ohio!

Our very own St. Leonard residents created and donated over 600 wooden cars to several local charities this Christmas. Catholic Social Services, Erma’s House, Greenmount, and Vineyard Church food pantries and refugee families were thrilled with these wonderful toys.

The idea for producing wooden toy cars for needy kids came from Toys For God’s Kids, a Colorado organization that was founded in 2000 and has shipped over 350,000 cars.

Vern Hine, Fred Pestian, and Pete Kostoff jumped at the opportunity to use this simple design to make a great number of kids in our area happy at the holidays.

St. Leonard is the only facility in Ohio making the cars, and all the supplies and labor have been entirely donated. Each car has “USA” burned into the rear bumper. The bottom has a stamp of our St. Leonard logo and website. The article in last Sunday’s Dayton Daily News has brought in additional donations of hard wood and tools.~Kate Quigley Volunteer Supervisor~

Team Woodshop: Toy Cars!

A meeting was held at St Leonard's woodshop last Tuesday at 2:00pm. Bernie, Fred, Pete, Kate, and John, attended. Fred has been busy; he's produced a bucket of wheels, cut out and sanded over 110 car bodies, and had a good start at drilling axel holes in those bodies. Fred also made a jig so that he could accurately drill axel holes. When Pete saw the jig and bodies waiting for axel holes he began drilling. Fred got me busy too, he skinned the scrap 2x4 lumber that George donated, and I assisted as he operated the planer. He set up the table saw so that I could run cut the 2x4's into 2x2's. The oscillating spindle sander is operational, the dust collection is working, and it has been used to sand the body profiles. Kate arrived with the stamp and we had to try it out. When John arrived there was discussion about shop cleanness and order. I also learned that the general contractor who is building the additions at St Leonard paid for the spindle sander. Kate is going to get four sets of ear muffs for sound protection. It was a great meeting, thanks to Fred; he's really gotten a lot accomplished. No one knew that he was building cars. He said that he usually works 4 or 5 afternoons a week. He begins some time between 12:30 and 1:00 and will spend a couple of hours in the woodshop. Pete and I had a good time helping him on Tuesday. The smell of sawdust is addictive, now that Fred has gotten the ball rolling; I hope others will be joining him.