For more than 20 years, The Cincinnati Woodworking Club (CWC), founded in 1982, has been donating handmade wooden toys to the children of the Christian Appalachian Project. This year, the club gave over 1,600 toys, including stuffed animals and wooden planes, trains, cradles and rocking horses.

The toys, many of which are handmade by CWC members, are distributed through CAP’s Christmas Basket program to children and families in need in five counties of Kentucky. Others are delivered to CAP’s Children and Family Development Centers which host daycare, educational and afterschool programs for children.

In 1988, the club made its first donation to CAP, and it has been bringing toys, puzzles, and furniture ever since. There are over 150 members in the club, mostly retired. Some are professional woodworkers, more are experience hobbyists, while others are amateurs learning the craft. The organization funds its work, in part, by hosting an annual auction that sells donated woodworking tools, books and other materials with proceeds used to buy toy-making supplies.

In November 2007, the CWC renamed the toy donation program, “The Jim Schaefer Toy Project”. Jim, who passed away in 2008, started the project in 1988 and led the program for about 15 years. Over the years, he and his wife Sylvia made hundreds of toys and other items for children. Each year, they loaded their van with the donated items from CWC and made the trip to Mt. Vernon, Kentucky for delivery. Occasionally, two trips were required!

“I marvel at the generosity of others,” said Leonardi, co-chair of the program. One member made over 200 individual pull toys. “Each toy had twelve wheels apiece, that’s over 2,400 wheels!” And participation in the program isn’t limited to Cincinnati residents. A mother in Wyoming made bedding for her son, who created wooden cradles for the children of Appalachia. The baby dolls for the cradles were donated by Kathy and Janet Lennon, of The Lennon Sisters, singers regularly featured on The Lawrence Welk Show.

The club has expanded its community service outreach to include several other worthy causes in the Cincinnati area. Toys are donated to the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center and furniture to Jackson Area Ministries, a mission activity of the United Methodist Church.

For more information about The Cincinnati Woodworking Club, visit www.cincinnatiwoodworkingclub.org.

For more than 20 years, The Cincinnati Woodworking Club (CWC), founded in 1982, has been donating handmade wooden toys to the children of the Christian Appalachian Project. This year, the club gave over 1,600 toys, including stuffed animals and wooden planes, trains, cradles and rocking horses.