Idaho Falls Area Humanitarian Center donates special wooden toys to two local organizations
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IDAHO FALLS — The Idaho Falls Area Humanitarian Center recently created specially made toys for children and donated them to two local organizations.
Toy department head Kent Wood said they made around 60 wood-toy fire engines, ambulances, helicopters and police cars for the Chaplains of Idaho. They also made blankets and little “burrito babies,” which are stuffed baby toys wrapped in blankets.
The Chaplains of Idaho is a nonprofit organization comprised of volunteers who serve first responders, the community and veterans. The group is trained in trauma and crisis care.
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“We are so excited!” said Alyce Jeppesen with the Chaplains of Idaho. “As chaplains, we are going to take (these toys) to our different agencies so that, let’s say, when a police officer is on the scene, and they’ve had a negative interaction with a child, they will be able to leave something positive, something uplifting for the child.”
Putting together the toys, such as the helicopter, was new for the center. It took hours upon hours to create, but Wood said he thinks all of them are exceptionally good.
“We are very proud of the quality that we turned out,” Wood told EastIdahoNews.com. “We had to put them together from the ground up. We went on YouTube, found some examples, took some photographs of the toys and then went from there to a template and then from a template to transferring them onto our pieces of wood.”
Jeppesen said they are incredibly grateful to the Idaho Falls Area Humanitarian Center for providing them with these resources to share with the community.
“We want to make a big difference. We want to take away some of the pain, and then we want to leave them with good things,” Jeppesen said about helping children and giving toys.
The Idaho Falls Area Humanitarian Center additionally made personalized decorated toy horses for Champ’s Heart. The nonprofit provides horseback rides to children with special needs and unique challenges.
“We have 292 children in our program now, and so many of them, at the end of their time of riding and having their horse encounter, want to take one of our horses home with them, and it’s impossible for them to do that of course,” said Larry Cudmore, founder of Champ’s Heart.
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But since the toys have been made, it’s the next best thing.
“We will be able to say to a child, ‘Well, you can’t take (this horse) home with you, but here’s a little wood horse that’s like (the horse) that you can take home with you,” Cudmore said. “It’s wonderful, a wonderful way to support the children!”
Over 100 horses were painted in detail according to photographs that Champ’s Heart provided to the center of the horses they have. The wooden horses have hearts on the hooves and names written like Roko, Prince, Cheyenne, and Stormy.
“It’s just a way for the children to remain connected to the horses while they are not at the ranch,” Cudmore said. “We can’t thank the Humanitarian Center enough.”
Wood added that he would like the community to know that they are here and the kind of work they provide.
“In the surrounding community, we probably have 100 agencies that we serve here out of the Humanitarian Center,” he said. “The Humanitarian Center is made up entirely of volunteers. In fact, if you were to walk around and see the shelves that are full, nothing is for sale. Everybody that works here is a volunteer.”
RELATED | You’re invited to take a look inside the Idaho Falls Area Humanitarian Center
The Idaho Falls Area Humanitarian Center is a nonprofit organization that survives on donations and grants. You can quilt, sew, make toys, assemble hygiene kits, and more. Click here to learn about the organization.
