Toys to be given away: Jim Phebus, one of the six to eight volunteers who will be helping to hand out Christmas toys on Friday to 317 children in Lehigh is shown in one of the storage rooms filled with toys. Photo by MEL TOADVINE

Families representing some 317 children in Lehigh Acres will line up to receiver free toys for their kids on Friday, Dec. 18, starting at 9:30 a.m. and continuing until 11:30 a.m.

Charlotte Rae Nicely has been playing Santa for the last couple of weeks, along with local businesses and individuals in Lehigh who have brought Christmas toys to Lehigh Community Services, where she is executive director of the agency that helps people in Lehigh during hard economic times.

“We are so appreciate of the people who have bought toys and who have given us money to buy toys,” Nicely said. “I know we’re going to have more than 300 kids who will have toys for Christmas. Otherwise, because of the hard economic times, there may not have been much under the Christmas tree.”

Lehigh Community Services hands out food and helps pay utility bills in the community. Those who receive help must meet certain income guidelines.

“The families that needed help for Christmas have contacted us and we have processed all of them and I think we’re ready to hand out the Christmas bags for the kids,’ she said.

It didn't take long for the requests list to fill up at Lehigh Community Services for the toys that will be distributed to area families with children who qualify. Photo by MEL TOADVINE

Nicely and her assistant, Pam Kaye, have been busy using their computers to line up each kid with certain toys.

“We’ll have them listed on individual bags. We won’t have dolls for the boys and there should not be any mix-ups,” she laughed.

Helping Nicely Friday will be Kaye and a handful of volunteers.

“It’s going to go off like clockwork,” she said smiling. When the parent or guardian comes in to get the gifts, they will have to produce a photo ID such as a driver’s license and then the action begins,” she said.

“The kid’s name goes to the rooms filled with toys and the volunteers retrieve them and bring them to the front. And so it goes with the next and the next,” she said.

There will be all kinds of toys, games and a few smaller bicycles, thanks to the gifts from businesses and others in Lehigh.

Lehigh Community Services is three decades old and it is believe to have started the toy giveaway program at Christmas at its inception. Harry Powell, the owner of Landex Corp., and others who were officials of the old Lehigh Corp. began the service to help the needy in Lehigh.

“And we have continued the tradition over the years,” Nicely said.

Among those who have helped this year include Animal Medical Center, Bowland of Lehigh, the First Presbyterian Church of Lehigh, the Eagles, the Salvation Army and others, in addition to many individuals who bought toys. Proceeds made from the golf tournament for Lehigh Community Services were also used last week to finish up buying toys to meet the demand, nicely said.

“We raised over $3,000 with additional $1,000 in toy donations for Christmas. Lots of good news about LCS,” Nicely said.

She noted that applicants applied on Nov. 23 and by Nov. 30, the list had closed because of so much demand.

“We knew what we could do, so we had to close the application time so we could get enough toys,” she said.

Those who didn’t meet the application deadline have been told to call 211, the United Way House, who can offer other places where toys may be given away.

It took a lot of work to make sure the toys were age appropriate for those who qualify to get the free gifts.

But Nicely believes the plan they have will work out to get the toys to the parents in the time allotted. If parents don’t show up, the toys will be given to others who may not have gotten on the list in time.

Of the volunteers, Jim Phebus, has been a regular for the last few years.

“I get very choked up when I watch the parents come and get the toys. And over the years, most of them say ‘thank you’ for the toys.

“I’ve never seen such a need in the community for food and toys because of what I think is a Depression in Lehigh,” Phebus said. The jobless rate in Lehigh is believed to be at 13.5 percent and that doesn’t count those who have stopped receiving unemployment benefits and still can’t find a job.

A record number of homes have been foreclosed on in Lehigh and Lee County with the county being in the top three across the U.S. in the number of foreclosed homes.

“I’ve been in Lehigh for a long time and I’ve never seen such a need like this,” Phebus said. He once owned a flower shop and later a travel agency in Lehigh before his retirement.

The toys were moved earlier this week to another site where there was room. The toys had been stored in rooms where Lehigh Community Services has its food pantries, Phebus said.