ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. — Families in tornado-ravaged Kentucky have a little holiday cheer coming their way on the Monday before Christmas, courtesy of St. Louis-area residents.
Guns ‘N Hoses organized a toy drive that turned into an interstate goodwill mission.
Last-minute donations were delivered Monday morning to two trailers parked behind Mungenast Honda in south St. Louis County.
Shan Herwig is a Mungenast employee and a Guns ‘N Hoses volunteer.
“We’re going to Mayfield, Kentucky, today to drop off the biggest bulk of the toys,” said Herwig.
They easily collected hundreds of toys.
Mungenast employee Charlie Dahm added, “We estimated over $200,000 worth of toys have been donated. Plus, gift cards, plus food.”
As a result, Mungenast has its showroom back. Sunday, it was nearly filled with toys before they were loaded up into the two trailers. There was barely any room to show cars.
Yet, Monday morning the donations kept coming.
Donor Eileen Keune said, “I was looking for somewhere to donate to kids, this year, and the tornado victims are definitely deserving of these toys.”
“We got some wonderful T-Rex’s and an X-man guy and kinetic sand. Every kid has got to have kinetic sand. Our grandkids go nuts over this stuff," Donor Tim Emerson added.
Toy donor Tom Childress recalls, “We saw on the news people were suffering out there in Kentucky, and we had some extra, so we thought we’d donate.”
Bob and Holly Mannecke are in Kentucky giving away free food, after loading up their Mann Meats food bus and heading south.
“Brought down 40 pork butts,” said Bob. “That’ll make a lot of sandwiches.”
“Helping people is something we love to do,” said Holly.
Bob added, “We have the means to serve a lot of food quickly, on the run. We mobilize. We can make sandwiches, deliver them on-site, and be gone in seconds.”
Guns ‘N Hoses volunteers plan to return from Kentucky, Monday night. Then they will make toy donations to families in and around Edwardsville and in St. Charles County, Tuesday and Wednesday.