Valpo Parks, together with Dunes Leatherneck Detachment hosted their 5th Annual Touch a Truck event, bringing together all members of the Valparaiso community to donate funds and toys for the Toys for Tots Foundation.
To see more photos from the event, click here!
"This is the 5th year for Touch a Truck with Valpo Parks being a drop-off site for Toys for Tots since 2005," says Valpo Parks Customer Service Administrator Helene Parks. "My brother-in-law was in the Army and has a number of friends in the local Dunes Leathernecks Detachment who asked if they could bring a box to our office to be a drop off site. We were more than happy to be asked and to serve the community as another safe place to drop off their Toys for Tots donations."
It wasn’t until 2011 that Valpo Parks began the Touch a Truck event. Parks, being the mother of a young boy who loved trucks realized that the Valpo Parks department could host an event and give back to the community.
"We gave a big welcome to everyone that came into our office to drop off a toy for Toys for Tots so we thought combining an event would be an even better way to connect with the community and achieve donations," says Parks.
Parks then approached the Dunes Leatherneck Detachment group to see if it was something they would like to help with as well and a partnership was born.
"The Dunes Leatherneck Detachment is our local Marine Corp League group that collects for Toys for Tots," says Parks. "They help pass out fliers and post posters throughout the community, and they are present on event day to help with any and all tasks at hand. It’s great having them there. They always have big smiles and even bigger stories to tell."
The Dunes Leathernecks also contribute to gathering the large collection of vehicles available for children and families to witness and in some cases, operate up close.
"When we first started we reached out to local businesses and City and County Departments to see if they would be willing to bring a vehicle of some kind. Everyone was very generous, but still the first year was smaller with only about 6-8 vehicles," says Parks. We have grown and expect almost 25 vehicles this year. There wasn’t then and isn’t now any real formula for who we reach out to, just those with big hearts that like to give back to their community."
"I've been doing this since I got out of the Marine Corp in 1975, and I have been doing it ever since," says Dunes Leatherneck member Joe Baczynski. "The parents say thank you so much for being here and I tell them that the only thank you I need is to put a toy in the box and help other kids."
"I've been doing this for three years in a row," says Porter County Sheriff's Officer Paul Czupryn. "It's interesting to see the kids approach a little apprehensively, start to warm up and ask more questions. They sit on the motorcycle, take pictures and see that we're not that intimidating after all."
It's important to note that everyone involved with Touch a Truck, from the vehicle suppliers and their drivers to the refreshment donations, to the tent donation, the City Department, the Dunes Leatherneck Detachment are doing it for the love our their community and the love of to giving back.
"Everyone is a volunteer. We do it so we can see families spending time together, see the smiles on a child’s face when they get in a fire truck or race car for the first time, and most off all because we know that all of the toys and monetary donations collected go to local children and families that might not otherwise have anything for Christmas," says Parks.
For all of the volunteers involved, Touch a Truck allows the best way to give back to the community, for families to come out and see some cool trucks and machinery and for those in need to experience a positive holiday experience that everyone deserves.
"As my son and I were helping with Toys for Tots one year he asked me to explain exactly what it was we were doing. I asked him to close his eyes and imagine waking up on Christmas morning and coming out the living room only to find there was nothing there. He got teary eyed. I got teary eyed. He totally ‘got it” and I knew we were doing the right thing," says Parks.