W. STEVEN MARTIN TOY DRIVE

We have a family tradition that goes back about 18 years. It started out when Kay was a policeman for the City of Mesa. A disc jockey named W. Steven Martin decided that children who are in at risk situations always looked upon policeman as the bad guy. So he started the Police Toy Drive. Every year he gets people to donate new toys and then policeman are able to come get these toys and deliver them to children on their beats who would otherwise not receive Christmas presents. Kay participated in this project. In order to get the best selection of toys we would have to go really early in the morning to stand in line. They would give us a ticket and then we would go to breakfast to wait for the toy warehouse to open. The ware house was right next to a Smitty's grocery store who at that time had a restaurant. Well a couple of years later the restaurant closed so there was no where to eat breakfast. We decided we would make breakfast for all the policeman waiting. We now serve around four hundred policeman each year for breakfast. In the beginning other policeman would help Kay and I but now our children are grown and have pretty much taken over the job. Last year Kay and I just watched. After breakfast we are able to still go shop for families. We then go to the Mesa Police station where the FOP provides wrapping paper and lunch. Even though Kay has retired we still find needy families to give to. It is the greatest thing and I believe Christmas would not be the same without it. Our children find out months in advance when the breakfast is so they can make sure they have the day off. Kay suggested one year we not do it anymore. We almost had a mutiny on our hands. So I guess as long as W. Steven Martin has his toy drive our family will be there to serve breakfast.
Sometimes some of the policeman get a little testy if they have to wait a minute or two for there food so I had these shirts made for each of us.

This is one row of the toy warehouse. It has grown in size each year.