Berea Man Fulfills Christmas Wish Lists of 175 Children in Need

BEREA, OH - In the cold of winter, nothing brings warmth like the generosity of others. Maybe it's the holiday season or our penchant for seeking company even in the darkest, most frigid days of our year, but December unearths that basic desire to help out those in need. For Steve Blair, this time of year has become a type of tradition.

For four years, Blair has donated a big collection of toys to the Berea Community Outreach, a service that helps 300 residents throughout the city. The organization serves as a food pantry, toy drive distributor and general safety net for the city's most vulnerable citizens.

At the beginning of his journey, Blair said he just felt it was the right thing to do. There was no great light in the sky that spoke to him, no sudden catalyst that materialized from thin air. None of that was necessary. Blair just felt it was right, the right move to care for children in his town that needed some extra looking after, the right way to spend a little excess cash, the right way to help parents that needed a boost during the holiday season.

Driven by the sense of doing something good for his neighbors, Blair began buying toys for the Berea Community Outreach in 2012. His modus operandus has changed over four years. He used to donate bicycles, 20 or so at a time. Bicycles are expensive though. You can only give away so many before your bank account starts to ache in self-destructive ways. So instead of treating 20 kids to a special Christmas, Blair decided to go one better. He would skip the two-wheelers and instead improve the holiday for 175 kids in one go.

Blair decided to spread his money around and buy all kinds of toys: dolls, stuffed animals, board games, action figures, Jenga (whatever category Jenga is), all the things that ignite the lights behind a child's eyes.

"I would just buy toys throughout the year. If I was at a Wal-Mart or a Target or what have you, I would throw a toy or two in the basket," Blair says.

For the Outreach, the toys are a massive bonus. Every year, families in need fill out a Christmas Wish List for their children. This year there were 68 lists, and sponsor-volunteers quickly snatched up all of the lists, eager to help out families in need. Blair did not take a wish list.

The Outreach asks volunteers to spend between $50 and $150 on their families. Nearly every single sponsor-volunteer goes above and beyond though, says Daune Jaynes, coordinator of housing and community services at Berea Community Outreach.

That said, some families don't like to flesh out their lists with toys and other knick-knacks. So they'll ask for the basics (socks, pants, boots) but leave blank the spaces for children's toys. That's where Blair's donation really helps.

"I’ll bring the parents in, in groups, and let them pick out toys. I have the toys divided by age. That way, everyone is getting a gift. It makes me feel like Santa Claus," Jaynes says.

She adds that volunteers have made stockings for all of the children in need. And none of the gifts are wrapped at the Outreach. Instead, when parents pick up the toys and clothes and stockings, they're also given wrapping paper and tape.

"We want parents to know what their kids are getting on Christmas Day," Jaynes says.

With the holidays inching ever closer, Jaynes says Blair's gifts were a huge boost to the program. She could not say enough about his quiet generosity.

"Every year he does something like this. One year it was the bicycles. This year's it's the toys," she says. "He is going to make 175 kids very, very happy."

Photos from Berea Community Outreach