6th ANNUAL TOY GIVE AWAY

6th ANNUAL TOY GIVE AWAY 

December 5 & 6 & 8-14, 2025

March 7, 2026 

Hi Everyone:

This part here is the LAST part I am writing.  So you may as well figure that I am silly.  My goal in life is to make someone laugh every day or even give a smile.  It has taken me at least two months to write this trip down memory lane, but rest assured, I am sure it won't take you that long to read it.  (I hope anyway) So, as I am finishing up-------- (OMG I just remembered I didn't write the correct ending), I forgot to tell you all how many children we served. Okay, so here's the challenge.  Stop reading right now.  Come on, join the fun.  Stop reading and look at your clock.  Mark down what time you start reading and what time you end.  When you are done reading, send me a text or e-mail with the time it took you to read the whole thing. Yes, the whole thing, word for word, and tell me how many children did we serve?  I am sure this may serve well to make people fall asleep while reading.  Let me know.      gail@gpabillgmagail.org                           Have fun.

Once again, I am finally getting a chance to sit down to get a blog written about our Sixth Annual Free Toy Give-Away that was held December 5 & 6, 8-13 2025.  We were actually open until the 14th.  We added the extra day to accommodate people who were affected by the flooding. This free toy giveaway was held for eight days, with the doors opening to the public at 10 AM and closing at 7 P.M. daily.  Each parent came in and shopped for their child; nothing is pre-chosen for a child.  It was held at First Christian Church Of Tacoma, located at 602 N Orchard St, Tacoma, WA 98406.   We have been holding our events in this location for the last five years.  Sadly, this will probably be the last year there as the church is in the process of relocating.

I think one thing we will all remember the most about this year's event is the rain and the rain and more rain!!  I am 75 years old and have never seen as much rain as we have had this year.  It really affected our attendance as several people had flooding both around and in their homes, preventing them from being able to come pick up toys.  And sorry to say, we had no way to deliver them even if we could.  One of my bucket dreams is to have enough volunteers and a vehicle so we could do home deliveries. At one point during our eight-day giveaway, I looked out the door and actually saw a line-up waiting to get into the shop.  We do have a seating area, so folks don't have to stand out in the rain.

Due to a conflict of scheduling, Cassie Tripp had the opportunity to take part in a German Christmas Market Tour, leaving shortly before we opened and returning in time to help out the last three days.  We (especially me) were a bit concerned when I found out she would be gone during most of our event and the only one we could find to take over in her absence was Holly Zerfass.  I must say that Holly did an awesome job for having next to no computer training.  She retained the hour and half training she received from Cassie much better than I did.  Everything went very smoothly.  Katy was here as often as she could be, helping man the registration table.  Katy is a joy to know and work with. I would like to point out that we did have one other volunteer signed up to help at the registration desk, but she became quite ill a few days prior to the event.  We thank you very much Sherrie, for volunteering.  We are saving you a seat for our 2026 giveaway.

Once again, we worked very short-staffed.  This is an area Carolina and I are going to attempt to be more diligent working. Most of our volunteers stayed all day from 9 AM until often after 10 PM.  After the last person left for the day, our volunteers would start stocking tables for the start of the next morning.  While they did that, Debbie would cook a meal for anyone wishing to eat before going home.  A great big thank-you and hugs to Debbie.

The church had disposed of the pews we used to use for room dividers, so we had to figure out a new way to configure our setup.  We ended up using our black bins which worked perfectly.

We would like to thank a number of people who helped us by donating items.  The one bad thing about listing names is that someone is likely to get missed, if you don't see your name on our list and would like it there, PLEASE, reach out to me by e-mail, text, or telephone.  This list is being make up in no particular order:

The Grotto Masons:  This is the second year this group of men donated cash, toys and time. They are a great group to work with.  When they are around you hear a lot of laughter.  They are full of energy and keep me on my toes.  A Great big THANK-YOU to : Mike P-D, Jeff C, Jason R and John B. See you guys again this year??

Saint Johns Masonic Lodge #9 F&AM Of Washington:  This is the first year we received support from this group.  We want to Thank Ashley B for recommending our group for a grant. This group donated the cash that enabled us to purchase 9 bicycles and helmets.  A Great big THANK YOU to : Ashley B and the members of this lodge .

We have several special areas assigned for our giveaway.  These areas include the Raffle Area, Gramma's Special Area, which includes only sensory toys for ALL children who are on the spectrum. New this year was an enlarged Jewelry Area.  We had special handmade jewelry by Terri D and a lot of Clair's Jewelry.  Other areas are: Stuffies, books, puzzles & games. sports equipment, Trading cards, dolls, Hot Wheels Cars. Toddler Toys,  A Clothing Bank Area. Hopefully, seeing this list will help you know what kind of items we take as donations, if you come across items you no longer want or need.  We hope you can understand our need for more volunteers. 

Tacoma Centennial Lions Club:  This small group worked hard for us all year, putting together grab bags for the children and putting together mugs with cocoa, candy, and Beanie Babies in them.  They also gave a donation of cash.   A Great big THANK YOU to: Angela D,  Robert J,  Hayley E, David E, Bill R, and Gail R

The Children's Trading Post is located at 11124 Gravelly Lake Dr SW. Ste A. Lakewood, WA 98499.  This is a second-hand store that carries used items for children:  clothing, new and gently used toys, furniture, etc.  They are an awesome group of people who firmly believe in supporting the community, not only with donations of clothes, but also with a nice-sized donation of letting Gramma pick out new toys. A Great big THANK YOU to : Shyanne, Becky, Chris and Sabrina

There is a wonderful shop in Tacoma that does custom apparel and screen printing, DTG, and DTF printing for a wide range of apparel called The TSM Shop.  It is located at 920 M.L.K. Jr Way in Tacoma, Washington 98405.  We want to give a big thumbs up and a big thank you for making us a dozen white shirts with our LOGO on them.  Our staff worked with a young man by the name of William Combs.  A Great big THANK-YOU to William.

Dave & Busters, located at the Outlet Mall in Auburn, donated basketballs to us again this year.  We really appreciate the donations they have made.  We got a chance to taste one of their hamburgers while we were at the mall.  Man, if you want a delicious burger with everything on it, go see them!!  Thank you, guys, for both the basketballs and the burgers, and mostly for your support; it means a lot.  A Great big THANK-YOU to: Dave & Busters.

A big shout out and thank you to Terry D.  This awesome lady has been donating beautiful handmade jewelry, dolls, stuffed animals, and other wonderful goodies for the past three or four years.  Time is going so fast it seems like we have known Terry forever.  Her jewelry is a big hit at our giveaways.   A Great big THANK-YOU to: Terry D.

Another wonderfully awesome... one of a kind...more than a good friend...... smart.... witty..... my sister from another mom ... a woman with a heart of gold has been extremely generous to our non-profit, is Sherrie Desbien.  She is the owner of several small businesses, including The Boutique Market. This market takes place once a month at the Outlet Mall in Auburn. To find out more about Sherrie, go to  Www.facebook.com/theboutiquesmarket She has allowed Grampa Bill & Gramma Gail a space to promote the funding of Grampa Bill & Gramma Gail, the last two years,  at her newly named business. A Great big THANK-YOU to:  Sherie D.

Family Eye Care Associates: located at 6314 19th St W STE1, Fircrest, WA 98466. our beloved, compassionate, eye doctor (One of the best in our opinion) practices in this office.  Her name is  Dr. Sharon Williams.  When we walk into the office, we are greeted by two of the nicest, kindest, who feel like sisters but are actually employees: Patrice C, Front Desk Co-Ordinator, and her sister Wendy C., Practice Manager. In 2024 they learned about our non-profit and what we do.  They received permission to place two collection boxes in the office. One for us and one for a local food bank.   The patients that came in were totally awesome.  They filled our box at least twice and the other one also was very successful.  They put the box out again in 2025, here's looking forward to 2026  A Great big THANK YOU to: Patrice and Wendy

The Auburn Valley Humane Society Thrift Store: is located at 1123 E. Main St. Auburn, WA 98002 Main Street in Auburn, WA.  This is a non-profit retail store that sells gently used items to support animal sheltering and welfare programs in Auburn, Washington.  Our contact person is a very nice, compassionate lady named of Candy. 

 A Great big THANK YOU to:  Candy and all her wonderful volunteers.

Our Wonderful Dedicated Volunteers I would like to start this paragraph by introducing our board members:  Bill R. Co-owner & Treasurer  & Gail R. Co-owner & Chairwoman of the Board,    Cassie T.  Board Member & Secretary & Client Service Manager    Katy M. board member & Intake Specialist,     Lacee F Board member & Clothing Manager, Debbie M. Board member and Chief Organizer & Logistic Officer,      Lisa Brinkley Board member and fund raising coordinator       William Lee Board member and Podcaster,        Carolina C.  Board Member & Volunteer Coordinator.  Jennifer McMillan  Book  manager,       Holly Z.  Client  Services Representative.          These are the people who work for you all throughout the year not just the eight day give- away.  Grampa Bill & Gramma Gail For Everyone has grown so much it would be impossible to run the company by ourselves as we did in the beginning. Great big hugs to everyone.  You are appreciated more than you can imagine. 

We also want to recognize the special people who come out and volunteer during the eight days we are open to handing out gifts for the children.  Once again, if you were a volunteer in 2025 and don't see you name listed, please let us know so we can celebrate you along with everyone else.  A Great big THANK-YOU to: Jennifer M.,  Jeff C.,  Audree C.,  Mike P-D, Tina R.  Jason R.,  John B.,  Angela D., Bob J., Hayley E., David E.,  Laura K., and  Todd K. Thank you very much to all our gracious volunteers for giving your time for the children.  We know there were a few more volunteers helping us but some of the sign in sheets got lost in the shuffle when we moved out of the venue. 

The Wonderful Donors From The Community Last But Not Least:  It would be impossible to list the names of all the kind hearted people who have donated cash, stuffies, dolls, jewelry, games, puzzles, sports equipment, bicycles, etc. to Grampa Bill & Gramma Gail For Everyone to help keep our program operating. Please know that when we tell you thank you very much, we hope that you can hear the voices of the thousands of children and their parents that we help each year.   A Great big THANK-YOU to: Everyone Who donated in 2025!!

Storage Court Of Tacoma: We have done business with other storage units in our lifetime but this company has been one of the very best.  All of the employees we have dealt with treat us like family.  They take care of any problems that may pop up as quickly as they can.  They keep us in the loop if the problem is going to take a while to solve. They have been supportive of Grampa Bill and Gramma Gail for Everyone since day one.   A Great big THANK YOU to: Mike A, Delia S. Mike R. Saxony O. & Miranda T.

First Christian Church of Tacoma: We Started our non-profit out of our house (2020). The second year FCC allowed us to use the chapel 2021.  They realized the space wasn't quite big enough and moved us up to the multi-purpose room.  2022-2025 We used the multipurpose room to give away toys and Stone Parlor for wrapping station.  Since that first day we have continued to grow. We added a children's clothing bank out in the multipurpose room but that area grew in leap and bounds so we moved that to Stone Parlor.  We have grown every year except in 2025. (read about that in the second paragraph). We found out that this will be our last year holding our event at First Church of Tacoma.  They have sold the property.  A Great big THANK YOU to: Cassie T,

If you have or know of a child in high school who needs volunteer credits to graduate, if you know anyone who would like to be involved with our program, if you yourself would like to volunteer,  please refer them to us. We run our program short staffed every year we have been open.  We try to make the experience fun for everyone.  We work year round collecting gently used toys, stuffies, trading cards, craft items and more.  They must be processed, then stored for the next year. volunteer forms can be found on our website www.gpabillgmagail.org

If you would like to know more about exactly what takes place at our events please ready earlier blogs located on our website. www.gpabillgmagail.org

Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to read through this whole long blog.

Ok, here is what I almost forgot to tell you. Our count was down a little this year from last.  We feel it was probably due to all the rain.  But we did give 4 gifts to 2,725 children in 802  families.  The goal for next year is for the third time over 3,000 children served.  

A Great big THANK YOU to YOU!!