Sara Stadem | Editor
Critters Bar in Crooks successfully took on a toy drive this holiday season for the Sanford Children’s Hospital to help provide a better Christmas for children going through a difficult time, according to Critters Bar general manager Bryon Farmer.
“Every year we do something different. Last year, we did nursing homes. We were going to do one and ended up doing three different ones,” Farmer stated. “We couldn’t do that this year as the nursing homes were hesitant to participate with COVID.”
Farmer indicate they still wanted to help those in need or those that weren’t able to celebrate the holiday season like normal. So, they collaborated with Bellator Titans Bike Club and did a toy drive for Sanford Children’s Hospital.
“We put it out to the Crooks community for presents to be donated. We put out a list for different things that were needed for different ages,” Farmer explained. He continued, “The Titan ladies made tie blankets that were given to kids that come in to the castle to stay. They get the blanket when they arrive and they get to take the blanket home with them.”
Farmer further explained they did anything from gift cards for the older children all the way down to toys for younger children.
Community members that wanted to participate in the toy drive could pick out anything they wanted to donate from the wish list. So, there may have been some that had multiple items which Farmer stated was okay with how the gift process worked at the hospital. “On Christmas Eve, a child gets to go down to the room where the gifts are kept and pick a gift they want. The Castle takes kids from all over. I’ve met kids from Ohio, Wisconsin, and more. It’s not just pediatric cancer – it’s all sorts of things that strike our children,” Farmer explained. “So, it’s nice to give them something to look forward to during their difficult time. We took all the toys from the community and the Bellator Titans Bike Club and we took it to the Children’s Castle. It ended up being a couple of pick-up loads.”
Next year, you can expect to see Critters Bar helping out those in need again. “We will see where the needs are at. I think with COVID, the Castle was limited to what they were getting so they needed more help,” stated Farmer. “So, we were able to team together and make it happen. That’s what you have to do as a community, as a group, to help others out.”