LANSING, Mich. (WILX) -Rueben Jacob Scheffel, was a retired grocer in Lansing, who became well-known for making wooden toys for neighborhood kids.
Mr. Scheffel passed away in 1978, but his legacy lives on thanks to the R.J. Scheffel Memorial Toy Project.
Senior volunteers get together at an inconspicuous building in north Lansing three mornings a week, from January through November.
When you step inside you would swear you just walked into Santa’s workshop… it’s full of buzzing saws and sanders, and busy paint brushes…
It’s also filled with a lot of jolly folks, sporting white hair, a group of spirited retirees who you might call Santa’s helpers.
Every one of them makes wooden toys for underprivileged kids, and kids in medical crisis.
You might call Chris Costigan, the head elf of the of R.J. Scheffel Memorial Toy Project.
“To me, it’s making toys to make kids happy,” Costigan says.
And boy do they make toys… anywhere from 10,000 to 12,000 a year.
There are 38 different wooden toys, everything from tiny horses on wheels, to four different doll beds.
“This year we made five hundred doll beds,” Costigan says.
They also made 375 wooden stools.
The toys are sent out to 32 different charities, and the Salvation Army gets the most.
Every toy is crafted by hand, then painted, sanded, and painted again.
For 35 years the Scheffel Toy Project has been providing wooden toys to disadvantaged children for Christmas.
While the toys have evolved over the years, the reason these dedicated volunteers keep showing up has never changed.
“Just the camaraderie with the other people that work here,” says a Santa’s helper named Jim.
They come for the camaraderie and stay for the cause.
“Knowing that we’re providing toys for disadvantaged children, provide them joy,” says Santa’s helper Darryl.
They are some of Santa Claus’s most dedicated
elves, turning raw timber into toys of joy.
The Scheffel Toy Project is completely supported by donations from the community.
Here’s a link to donate: https://scheffel-toys.org/donations.html
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