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Posted on December 27, 2011 08:48
Inmates Create Toys For Needy Children
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| These are among the wooden toys crafted by inmates at the Mike Durfee State Prison in Springfield. The toys are donated to needy children throughout the area. It’s part of an annual holiday effort that sprang from the prison’s woodworking program. (Courtesy Photo) |
Published: Saturday, December 24, 2011 1:12 AM CST
SPRINGFIELD — Santa is getting some additional help with his toys, but it’s not from elves at the North Pole.
About two dozen inmates at Mike Durfee State Prison (MDSP) in Springfield craft and polish around 450 toys each year for needy children.
The toys have been loaded onto Santa’s sleigh (or other modes of transportation) and delivered to Yankton and surrounding communities just in time for Christmas Eve.
The children’s response to the toys has been ecstatic, according to Pam Kettering, executive director of the United Way and Volunteer Services of Greater Yankton.
“Over at ‘Toys for Kids,’ we have a big box of wooden toys,” she said. “It’s magnificent. It’s not often that kids can get handmade toys.”
The need is definitely there, Kettering said. “We have had more than 350 kids enroll for ‘Toys for Kids,’” she said.
Inmates have been constructing toys since 2005, said Alan Mudder, shop foreman for the MDSP construction technology program.
The toy project grew out of the prison’s woodworking program, Mudder said. The inmates were constructing wood items, such as welcome signs, for South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks.
Other wood work included cabinets, cabins, log frames, handicapped ramps, bulletin boards and dog houses.
Then, Mudder sought other projects, and the toy-making effort was born. The toys use scrap lumber from the prison and don’t incur additional expense for the institution, he said.
“We now have two inmates who work full-time on just the toys. They do most of the load throughout the year, but we have 22 inmates who work with the program (on a seasonal basis),” Mudder said.
“We hit something like 450 toys each year. We have a couple of guys (in the auto body shop) who are real good at airbrushing, so they are able to touch up the toys and make them look good.”
Mudder draws the core of “Santa’s helpers” from his prison carpentry class. He looks not only for those interested in the toy project but also those with an aptitude for the work.
The toys range from the intricate to the large scale, Mudder said.
“We have made things ranging from puzzles and jewelry boxes to small airplanes (on the small end),” he said. “We have also made a few rocking horses, trucks, space ships, Army trucks and bigger tractors.”
The finished products are distributed to a variety of sources, Mudder said. Some of the toys go to inmates’ families, while the rest goes to area fire departments and charitable organizations who distribute toys to the needy. Last year, about 150 toys went to the Yankton Sioux Tribe for its children, he said.
Not all of the toys are distributed at Christmas, Mudder said.
“When they had the bad fires in Yankton County, we gave six families some of the toys,” he said. “In the last five years, we have had a dozen families where we have provided toys for their kids.”
The inmates’ efforts have brought joy to children who might otherwise not have enjoyable holidays, Kettering said.
“With the prisoners doing something like this for the kids, it’s very gratifying,” she said. “When it comes to toys for kids, many times it’s something you don’t think about.”
However, the tough economy has created stress for families unable to afford toys this holiday season, Kettering said.
“The last two years, we have seen an increase in the need,” she said. “We are also seeing more calls (for assistance). There is more of a need for covering everyday expenses like utilities and the rent. It’s been pretty much a crisis.”
The stress, in turn, affects the children and the families’ holidays, Kettering said.
“We have parents who come in and say they don’t know what they’re going to do for Christmas,” she said. “They don’t have any money for toys, and that impacts the kids and having a good Christmas.”
Pat Robinson works with the “Toys for Kids” program and has developed a database of families in need of toys, Kettering said. Robinson sees that the toys are wrapped and distributed, she said.
Yankton-Vermillion radio station KVHT also works with the toy distribution, she added.
Each year, the MDSP inmates come up with a variety of toys of all shapes and sizes, Kettering said.
“Last year, we had airplanes and helicopters and trucks and a little bigger wooden toys,” she said. “This year, they used small pieces of wood. It’s so much fun to see (what they create).”
With their sanded, varnished look and feel, the prisoner-produced toys carry a mix of homemade and professional quality, Kettering said. When the shipment arrives from the prison, the toys are unloaded onto a table. The toys are then distributed to families who registered with the project to create a “wish list.”
The prison toys form part of what has become an outstanding public response to the needy, Kettering added.
“The outpouring of the community has been absolutely awesome,” she said. “We have had 35 families or companies who wanted to ‘adopt’ families. This can go beyond toys. They help with things for mom and dad. When (sponsors) adopt someone, it can be really heart warming.”
The inmates also feel gratified to create the toys that produce so much joy, said MDSP Warden Bob Dooley.
“It’s fun to go down and talk to the guys who produce this (toy collection). They have these projects all over the shop,” he said. “They have free rein to use their imagination, but safety is Number One.”
A similar toy-making program is conducted at the state penitentiary in Sioux Falls, Dooley said. At Springfield, the toy project operates as part of the prison’s vocational training program, he said.
“This (toy making) started as kind of a side project for the last few years,” he said. “The inmates in this program do precision work. This teaches them skills. The whole idea is to get them a job and keep them a job (after their release from prison).”
The variety of toys produced by the inmates ranges from doll houses and cars to airplanes and military-type toys, Dooley said. The toy making has become a year-round effort, with the work kicking into high gear in October and November, he said.
In turn, the toy distribution has become a highly anticipated annual event, Dooley said.
“Once we got started doing this (toy production), we got the word out that it was available,” the warden said. “People would tell their neighbors. Since then, it’s become an annual thing. We have Yankton and other communities ask for (the toys).”
The toys are not the only inmate-produced gifts that bring smiles to children, Mudder said. The prisoners totally refurbish around 1,200 bikes annually.
Steve Reynolds, shop foreman for the automotive program, oversees the bike effort.
“The bike project is done throughout the year and has been huge for us,” Mudder said. “(Outside parties) usually collect bikes throughout the year that are stolen or not claimed. They bring (the bikes) here, and we repair and refurbish them.”
The inmates never get to meet the young recipients of the toys and bikes, but the prisoners know their work is appreciated, Mudder said.
“We get all sorts of ‘thank-yous’ that we put on the board,” he explained.
The cards and letters of appreciation are gratifying, but the prisoners receive rewards that can’t be measured, Dooley said.
“For the inmates, it gives them the real satisfaction of giving back to others,” the warden said.
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