In addition to being a wonderful place to live, Presbyterian Village North (PVN) also houses a top-secret branch of Santa’s workshop with the help of PVN’s resident Woodworking Group. The senior living community’s onsite wood shop houses state of the art equipment where a dedicated group of men and women work year-round constructing and assembling toys to donate to two non-profit organizations.
This year, the resident-led group made an impressive donation of 986 wooden toys benefitting pediatric patients at PediPlace and children from underprivileged households through Hobby Crafters Foundation. PediPlace provides healthcare for children (from birth through age 18) who are uninsured or who receive Medicaid or Children’s Health Insurance Program benefits. Hobby Crafters strives to provide wooden toys to as many underprivileged children as possible during the holiday season.
This year’s remarkable inventory of handcrafted and hand painted toys included as assortment of vehicles such as planes, race cars, school buses, trucks, tractors and boats as well as animal pull toys. Each item was lovingly crafted with the hope of spreading happiness to some very deserving children. Shari Markey, PediPlace CEO, made a special trip to the PVN campus to thank the group as she collected their handmade creations.
The PVN Woodworking Group is hosting an Open House for teammates, residents and their families to tour their shop at 9 a.m. on Saturday, November 5. Those who attend will enjoy a rare behind the scenes glimpse of this Santa’s workshop annex in advance of the holiday season.
