For the past six years, children served by Hope Supply Co. (HSC) have received a special demonstration of love at Christmastime: wooden toys, carefully built by Hobby Crafters. These handmade playthings, from trucks and planes to ducks and grasshoppers, bring joy to boys and girls who often don’t receive other gifts during the holidays.
“Kids are so precious, and it just gives us a great feeling to know that they're going to have something at Christmastime,” says Leonard Edgar, secretary and treasurer of Hobby Crafters. He shares about this organization’s beginnings during World War II with a young Dallas physician, Dr. Arch Mc Neill: “This all started back in 1944 when Dr. McNeill went to a lady's house to treat her. Back then they had house calls, and he noticed there weren’t any toys or anything on the Christmas tree for the kids.”
When the doctor learned that the woman’s tree was for the underprivileged children in her neighborhood, but that she couldn’t afford to provide much for them, he made some toys in the wood shop in his garage and delivered them to the family. That started an annual Christmas tradition. “This is our 80th year, and we have one charity that's been receiving toys from us since 1954,” Leonard explains.
Leonard got involved with Hobby Crafters after learning about the organization through a December 2017 episode of Texas Country Reporter. Though he didn’t have experience in woodworking, he thought “That would be something good to do,” and volunteered the following month.
“I went in there, and they trained me how to use the different equipment.” He explains that volunteers have varying roles, from working with saws to sanding and gluing to making blankets and mattresses for doll cradles. “You don't have to have woodworking experience to volunteer at the Toy Shop.”
Volunteers’ creations, some of which are based on their own original designs, have won awards from the State Fair of Texas, and they take pride in crafting high-quality items for at-risk children. As Dale Arrington, president of Hobby Crafters, shares, "It’s a joy to go build wooden toys that are given to places like Hope Supply that give to boys and girls.”
Barbara Johnson, CEO of Hope Supply Co., praises the benefits of these simple, well-crafted playthings. “In an age of electronics and batteries, these wooden toys are so refreshing. They bring back an age of innocence and creative play. As we provide diapers and other essentials for families in need, being able to also give a homemade toy enables us to communicate in a very tangible way that others care about them.”
Though Hobby Crafters distributes toys for the holidays, its work takes place year-round. Volunteers start building in January, and each October, Hobby Crafters sends a catalog to area charities, inviting them to order toys to pick up in November. Hope Supply Co. has been blessed to be one of those organizations since 2018. It has received roughly 1,860 toys from Hobby Crafters, including 300 toys for the 2023 Christmas season alone.
Lynnette Snow, inventory manager at HSC, has seen the joy these handmade gifts bring: "Children have been so excited to receive the wooden toys each year. You see their faces light up when we bring out a toy that is specially made just for them. It is so much fun to watch them play with the toys!"
This excitement provides a glimpse of the vision that Hope Supply Co. and Hobby Crafters share: creating a better future for at-risk children. “It’s wonderful to have the support of an organization that cares so deeply about investing in the next generation,” Barbara shares. “Each year, their donations help make the world a kinder place for boys and girls facing unkind circumstances, and that kindness can have a lasting impact on young lives.”
That vision to help children in Dallas drives the efforts of Hobby Crafters volunteers to fulfill all of the requests the organization receives for toys. “What we like to do is give to charities that are mom-and-pop charities,” Leonard explains, adding that Hobby Crafters distributes toys to nearly 30 organizations. “We were able to supply all their needs last year, and I believe we only had 65 toys left over.”
Each of these toys represents the love that Hobby Crafters has for needy children. “The Toy Shop certainly is love made visible, and so that's what we do when we make these toys and these kids get them,” Leonard says. “We hope they feel the love that went into making each of these toys.”