SW Guild's Annual 2023 Toys and Gifts for Families
Woodcrafters Donate Toys and Gifts for Families
On December 14, 2023, the Suncoast Woodcrafters Guild (SWG) presented the Sunshine Coast Community Services Society (SCCSS) with over 150 handcrafted wooden toys and gifts that its membership have been building over the past year. These gifts will be distributed by SCCSS to families in need of a little extra holiday cheer this year.
2023 Photo Gallery
SW Guild's Annual 2022 Toys and Gifts for Families
Woodcrafters Donate Toys and Gifts for Families
On December 15, members of the Suncoast Woodcrafters Guild presented Catherine Leach, Executive Director of Sunshine Coast Community Services and staff members Shannon Reid, Lynn Mackay and Megan Baker with over 150 hand-crafted wood toys and gifts. These gifts were distributed by Community Services to families that needed a little extra holiday cheer. Materials to make the toys and gifts are paid for through grants from the Sunshine Coast Regional District, Lehigh Materials and Sunshine Coast Community Forest. This is the 17thconsecutive year the Woodcrafters Guild has made gifts at Christmas time for those in need. The SWG is a group of people of all skill levels who are interested in working with wood, improving their skills and contributing to the community.
2022 Photo Gallery
Len Pakulak
I enjoy making toys for our Christmas gifts to the Food Bank users. However, in the past, making toys in the September thru December period conflicts with my annual wine-making, so during the pandemic lock-down, I started making toys in February. Ken Walker, as always, was generous of his time to supply the alder wood and sized it to my requested dimensions. Because I live in a Watermark condo, I'm restricted to using the Watermark shop which is well used by several condo owners. I donated my scroll saw and oscillating spindle sander from my old shop to the Watermark shop, so that makes toy-making much easier. The alder wood is easy to work, sands well and looks pretty good after five coats of wipe-on varnish. As the attachment photos show, I made six wooden toy trucks this year, and they are all finished well ahead of the normal early December date, and will not complicate my wine-making. Lesson is: start early!!
SW Guild's Annual 2020 Toys and Gifts for Families
The 2020 Toys & Gifts program was another successful year with 110 gifts made! An extra thank you to the T&G committee, Ken Walker for distributing the wood, helping with any milling to be done and lending his overall woodcrafting expertise, as well as Dan Chercover for handling all the administrative duties, coordinating with Sunshine Coast Community Services (including some Covid protocol hiccups along the way) and making sure that all the gifts got to Community Services. We also wish to thank Rick and Dee Budd for helping with the setup at Community Services and especially Dee for photographing all of the gifts. We especially want to thank all of you who made gifts and contributed your time and expertise. Well done, everyone!
2020 Photo Gallery
