The Lexington Fraternal Order of Firefighters hosted their annual Christmas auction and toy program to help local children and families in need.
The toy program, held on Saturday, Dec. 14, took place at the “North Pole,” a building off of New Circle Road that Lexington Fraternal Order of Firefighters (FOF) members redecorated to look like a toy store.
Lexington FOF President and firefighter Lt. Chris MacFarlane said the Lexington FOF Toy Program helped provide toys to families and children in Lexington who were struggling financially.
“A lot of times, people can’t figure out what they’re going to do for Christmas,” MacFarlane said. “We (FOF) don’t ask any questions, we say, ‘If you need help, the Lexington firefighters are going to be here to help you.’”
MacFarlane said 2024 marked the 94th year the Lexington FOF held the toy program and auction.
“We’ve been doing them for 94 years, and we’re going to continue to do them for another 94 years,” MacFarlane said.
The toy program had four time slots open throughout the day for families to come in and pick out toys. According to MacFarlane, about 840 families, or roughly 3,000 children, signed up for the 2024 toy program.
“We set it up like a giant toy store so that they (the families) get to feel the same experience that everyone does this time of year when they’re going to pick out a toy for their kids,” MacFarlane said.
In addition to Lexington community members volunteering, the Lexington FOF was joined by student volunteers from Bryan Station Middle School in the Spanish Immersion Program to serve as interpreters for families who could not speak English at the event.
“I feel like so many families appreciate this because they can’t all speak English, so it really helps when there’s a group of people that can help them be able to speak their native language,” 11-year-old interpreter and Spanish Immersion Program student Lily MacFarlane said.
About 30 of the 120 volunteers that helped families find toys for their children were student interpreters.
Parents were given multiple tickets, which were then used to “purchase” different gifts at the toy drive.
Mother Lovanda Tipton said she was looking forward to getting Legos for her son.
“Last year we got him Legos and I think a race car track, and he liked it,” Tipton said.
Tipton, who attended the toy program in previous years, said she appreciated how much the toy drive helped out families in Lexington.
“It helps people with low income that wouldn’t ordinarily be able to get stuff for their kids,” Tipton said. “Especially as high and expensive things are now. These things help.”
Some of the families who participated in the toy drive were shopping for more than one child, like mothers Nicole Descartes and Jessica Guillen who each have two children.
“If I didn’t have this in my life for the past four years, I don’t know how I would’ve got my kids a lot of stuff,” Descartes said.
Although Descartes has participated in the toy drive for almost four years, this was Guillen’s first year attending.
“We’ve talked to our kids about how when you can give, you give, and then when you need it, it’s also nice to be able to receive,” Guillen said.
The two women said they were looking forward to seeing the looks on their children’s faces this Christmas.
Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Incorporated (AKA) alumna Denise Hayden participated in the event to help provide the toy drive with more dolls that had racial diversity in honor of the late Brenda Cowan, Lexington’s first black female firefighter.
“We were asked to help out because the firefighters were not getting enough minority dolls,” Hayden said. “We also want to help make families happy.”
Hayden said this was the 18th year AKA alumni have helped with the toy program, and said it is important to give children a doll that looks like them.
“Kids can know, ‘this is a career that I could have, this is a doll that looks like me, I can be this type of a person,’” Hayden said.
Many volunteers have helped with the toy program for multiple years, like Pastor Jeremy Wasch who has been volunteering at the toy drive with his wife and three children for nine years.
“It shows love to the community,” Wasch said. “A lot of times, people aren’t able to take care of themselves during the holidays, and what the firefighters do with all of the donors and the donations just is a way to give back to help those in need.”
Wasch said he loved being able to help families in need during the holiday season.
“To be able to help people is just what we’re supposed to do,” Wasch said. “Biblically, we’re supposed to go help others, and so it’s a great day.”
Before the toy drive was held, Lexington FOF members also hosted an auction to fundraise money needed to buy the toys for the children.
MacFarlane said the auction was dedicated to the late firefighter Chuck Williams, who passed while in the line of duty in 1997.
“In 1998, the year after (his death), we dedicated starting these auctions and the fundraising in memory of him,” MacFarlane said. “So, it’s just a very emotional day, but a very exciting day.”
The auction was held on Sunday, Dec. 8, and included a live auction, silent auction and raffle giveaway.
“We had 54 live auction items, we had 72 silent auction items, we had 80-something buy-it-now items and we had 30 raffle items,” MacFarlane said.
MacFarlane said roughly $40,000 were raised from this year’s auction, allowing the Lexington FOF to buy almost 12,000 toys.
“We also provide them with a book for each toy, a stuffed animal, an arts and craft and a game,” MacFarlane said. “They’re not just getting a toy, they’re getting something a little nurturing like a book or arts and crafts.”
Alex Anderson, acting officer of Emergency Care Unit (ECU) 2 and secretary of the Lexington FOF, although not involved in putting together the toy program, still attended the auction to support the cause.
“It’s awesome,” Anderson said. “It’s great that we get everybody together… and just raise a lot of money.”
According to MacFarlane, the toy program not only helped families in need, but also gave firefighters a break from helping people in traumatic and life-threatening situations.
“They (firefighters) go to car wrecks where people may be deceased, they go to a lot of medical runs where people are injured and sick, and that’s all we do day after day after day,” Mac Farlane said. “This time of year, we get to do something a little bit different. We’re still helping people, but we’re able to help people in a more positive way.”
