Christmas is just eight days away, as many families across the country start to make their final preparations for the big holiday with family, friends and other loved ones.
Unfortunately for some families, the holidays are not always an easy time of the year. Those families need extra support to get by around Christmas time, whether it's food to have on the dinner table, extra clothing for the changing seasons, or even toys for the kids underneath the Christmas tree.
The Salvation Army of Buffalo is doing their part to help out families during the holiday season, especially with their toy shop that they hold every year to ensure kids are getting something special for Christmas this season.
"I know that we've been here for over 135 years. I would imagine we've had some sort of toy distribution since then," said the Development Director for the Western New York Region for the Salvation Army, Laurie Krajna. "I've been here for nine years. It's a great feeling to watch parents' eyes as they see gifts that children would receive that otherwise would not have."
"This is my second year doing it, and this is overwhelming," said Secretary of the Advisory Board for the Salvation Army of Buffalo, Bob Pokrzyk. "When you come down here, you see all the toys. Keep in mind, all of these were donated as well. Buffalo is a very poor city, and the fact that Salvation Army, which is known for obviously clothing and the red kettles, but people don't understand what they do also in addition, which is giving out toys to the less-fortunate. This has just been a great experience, and to know that kids are going to get toys based off the Salvation Army is absolutely wonderful."
In normal circumstances, the Salvation Army would allow the kids to go down to the toy shop with their parents and be able to pick out which toys they want to take home for Christmas. They's have a choice of several different items, based on age, gender, and other interests for each kid such as science, music, sports, etc.
However, given the circumstances with COVID-19 over the past couple of years, the Salvation Army has been forced to change up their methods of helping families during the holidays.
"Last year, we actually knew that COVID was a factor, so we pre-packaged bags of toys and had a drive-thru method. This year, we were more hopeful the numbers didn't show that we were going to have to do it that way," Krajna said. "We had really planned that the parent could come in and select the toys. That's how we normally do it, it's a little more personal. But at the last minute with the spike in the COVID stats - our goal is to keep everyone safe, staff, volunteers and clients.
"As the challenges get thrown at us, we just try creatively to make it safe for everyone, while still fulfilling those basic needs that are needed in the community."
With the quick change of plans due to the increase in COVID-19 cases in Erie County this holiday season, Krajna says they've adjusted to a hybrid version of the toy shop in 2021.
"We have volunteers that are taking the sheets that clients have filled out online, they're going down and picking out toys," Krajna explained. "A sheet might say a little girl who is 12 that likes Barbies, so they go down to the appropriate table, they pick those toys out; there are family games, there are stuffed animals, there are bags of stocking stuffers. We even have a gentleman who donates wrapping paper every year. So people are leaving with an abundance of toys, and it's just a great feeling."
However, with COVID-19, once again, making life difficult for everyone, it has taken away those face-to-face interactions between the families and the volunteers and staff at the Salvation Army.
"The best thing we ever had was when the clients came through," said volunteer of roughly 26 years, Richard Reisch. "Then we could ask them, 'What's your interests? Science? Music? Art?' Whatever, and we can steer them, because I try to separate stuff on the tables into the categories that may be of interest. It moves things along, and they get what they're looking for. Otherwise, they come here, they scratch their head, they look up-and-down the table and we've got running chaos. But now we don't even have that because the clients aren't really coming down."
For a volunteer like Reisch, the toy shop every year for kids in the Buffalo community means more to him than just helping out those in need during the holidays.
"When I was younger, we wouldn't have had some Christmases if it hadn't been for the Salvation Army's store down here," Reisch said. "As I got older, I started donating toys, bicycles. My particular thing is science stuff, so I usually try to bring anything to promote science to help the kids get into engineering. That's where it's all at, where all the future is."
Every year, the goal of the Salvation Army in Buffalo is to accommodate 12,000 families. With approximately 4,000-5,000 kids being taken care of every year with 2-3 toys per-kid, the number of donated toys needed starts to pile up fast.
So how did the Salvation Army get its donated toys this year with the COVID-19 pandemic still hindering their efforts to help the needy?
"We are part of the Western New York holiday partnership, so toys come in from all sorts of organizations throughout the community," Krajna explained. "I had Hunt Commercial [Real Estate] doing a board game drive for us. Lipsitz Green [Scime Cambria], they had a tree [and it] took a whole box truck to bring all the gifts that were under that tree."
However, there are still plenty of businesses that still are going virtual, with employees working from home and away from the offices. How was Krajna and the Salvation Army able to get toys with some people unable to physically drop off their donations in the red barrels?
"We got creative this year, and we worked with local toy stores," Krajna said. "We had different employers send emails out to their employees and say, 'Go online, buy a toy online or over the phone,' and then the toy shop actually put the toy in the barrel and we just pick it up. Companies like M&T [Bank] did that and KeyBank. It was just a great way to creatively do a toy drive while social distancing and not being in the office.
"Without the community support, we wouldn't be able to do this, so it really is a 'City of Good Neighbors' effort on this."
So what more this holiday season is the Salvation Army offering for the Buffalo community?
"The Salvation Army is open every day of the year," Krajna said. "On Christmas and on Thanksgiving, we actually do holiday dinners right on that day. Every day we have our client-choice pantry, where clients can come in and pick food if they need food. We have employment services that helps families get their GED, or get job training or get jobs. We have a homeless family shelter, so if families find themselves evicted or due to a disaster needing shelter, they can come here. There's a ton of ways that we help people help themselves and take a step above to be self-sufficient."
Another common thing seen at many stores around Christmas time is people from the Salvation Army ringing a bell and collecting donations from the community with the red kettles. However, the volunteers have now been able to collect donations from the community thanks to touchless pay, that is convenient and allows for people to feel safe during the times of the pandemic.
"Apple Pay, Google Pay, PayPal and Venmo are all available, so if you're not carrying cash and you just want to tap that [app], it's a secure way to make a donation," Krajna said. "It's just a great organization that continually changes the services that we offer based on the needs of the community."
With one more weekend and another full work week to go before Christmas arrives next Saturday, the Salvation Army is still looking for donations, as well as volunteers to help with their efforts for the people of Buffalo.
"We could still use toys, we could still use volunteers ringing bells at the kettles," Krajna said. "Food drives are constantly needed to keep our pantries stocked. Gifts of warmth - if you wanted to do a mitten drive or a scarf drive - all through the winter season. We also deliver hot meals on the streets during the winter months, so even after Christmas. If you want to donate food or your time to help serve these hot meals. And again, any financial donations give us the flexibility to meet the need at the moment."
"Donate money, donate your time, all of that good stuff," Pokrzyk added. "Anything, regardless of how small or big it is, whether it'd be a time investment or money, it is extremely grateful and can certainly change the lives of people in Buffalo."
You can find more information about how to make a donation and get connected with the Salvation Army of Buffalo by clicking the link here: