A bowling party fundraiser is being hosted by Spring Hill Lanes on Sunday, March 26 to benefit The ToyMakers organization. Registration begins at noon and bowling begins at 1 p.m. The registration fee is $20. There will be raffle prizes and 50/50 drawing.
The Toymakers organization is made up entirely of volunteers, who devote their time and money to make and provide free, simple wooden toys for sick and needy children in hospital. Volunteers do not receive any compensation for their time. All donations to the organization are used for the supplies and materials required to make the toys.
All the toys are designed to be safe and contain no nails, screws, sharp corners or staples. Child-safe paint is also used.
More than 350,000 toys have been donated since 1982 to sick and needy children primarily in the Tampa Bay area of Florida but also to other countries through missionary and military friends.
The ToyMakers began in 1982 when Jim McCullagh was advised that his grandchild didn’t have any toys to play with while in All Children’s Hospital in St. Petersburg, Florida. Realizing that there was a need, he enlisted the help of his boyhood friend, Bruce Pahl. They and their wives started making simple, colorful wooden toys. These toys were given to All Children’s Hospital, then to local Ronald McDonald Houses, and other local agencies.
The Toymakers respond to all calls for support for children in physical or emotional distress and are always adding new friends in the United States as well as in other countries.
The ToyMakers produce over 20,000 toys every year and deliver about 5,000 toys every three months to over 27 agencies in the Tampa Bay area of Florida which includes Pasco, Hernando, Pinellas, and Hillsborough counties.
Visit toymakers.org for more information. For more bowling information, contact Stephanie Nunziante 727-860-4142 to register. Registration forms are available at the bowling lanes.