A mountain of 600 toys gathered donated as part of the Festival of Trees Toy Drive and destined for children in foster care crowds the Mid-Columbia Health Foundation office downtown The Dalles. Pictured are, left to right, front row, Susan Erickson of CASA; Renee Enriquez, district 9 child welfare; Celeste Hill-Thomas and Trent Smiley of W-T Co. Back row, Cynthia Kortge, MCHF event coordinator; and Kyle Lyman, Bob Wagner and Nate Knittel of Dynalectric.
The office of Mid-Columbia Health Foundation resembled Santa’s Workshop this week, with 600 toys donated and delivered by staff members of Dynalectric and their business partners.
The toys were part of the Festival of Trees Toy Drive, now in its second year.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many toys outside of a toy store,” said Cynthia Kortge, event coordinator for the Mid-Columbia Health Foundation. “Thanks to the generous team at Dynalectic and our many other donors, children throughout the entire region will enjoy some great Christmas presents this year.”
The drive, sponsored by Cascade Sotheby’s International Realty, benefits local children and teens through Columbia Gorge CASA, a non-profit organization serving children in foster care.
Kyle Lyman of the Dynalectric field leadership team said they have been collecting toys all year long. “Our company has several sites in the northwest and had a goal of collecting a total of 750 toys,” he said. “But we wanted to do more, so we set a goal of 800 toys at just our site in The Dalles.” Not only did they meet their goal, they far exceeded it, collecting more than 2,800 toys, some of which were donated to other organizations.
Joining Dynalectric were many other businesses and individuals that supported the toy drive this year, including Hydro Extrusion North America. Terrie Methvin, HR Coordinator at Hydro, was excited about participating. “I loved shopping for gifts for the Festival of Trees Toy Drive,” Methvin said. “Our team had a lot of fun participating in this event.”
“We’re so thankful to everyone who donated to the Festival of Trees Toy Drive,” said Kortge. “Each and every gift is a heartwarming reminder of the amazing community we live in.”
For more information, or to make a donation to the Mid-Columbia Health Foundation, call 541-296-7275, email mchf@mcmc.net or visit online at www.mcmc.net/give.
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