The sad stories are enough to break even the Grinch’s tiny heart.
And Quintella Walters, a worker at the East Akron Neighborhood Development Corp., says she has heard a record number of hard-luck tales this holiday season from Akron families looking for some help.
Most years, the agency located at the East Akron Community House on South Arlington Street hands out enough toys for 200 to 300 kids.
But the need was great this year, Walters said, so the agency was thankful that the Marine Corps League’s Toys for Tots program was able to donate 800 toys that were distributed to families on Tuesday. Akron police officers assisted with some of the deliveries.
Walters said the sour economy has put countless families in East Akron in dire straits. Tuesday’s handout of toys was the biggest in 15 years.
The agency worked to help as many families as possible, Walters said, from those who lost jobs to those who lost their homes in foreclosures.
“It is a very sad time for some of these families,” she said. “There are a lot of sad stories out there.
“We’re just trying to help out.”
One family assisted on Tuesday had lost all their belongings in a fire, Walters said, while another had all its gifts stolen by burglars.
Plans are already under way, she said, to try and secure more toys for next year’s effort to help more families in need in East Akron.
The East Akron Neighborhood Development Corp. was founded in 1982 and works to improve housing conditions and also to spur economic development. For more information, call 330-773-6838 or visit http://www.eakronndc.org/ on the Internet.
