IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Mary Taylor Beck
Director of Public Relations
Office: (314) 453-0453 X 22
Cell: (314) 520-8011
Fax: (314) 453-0488
mary@varietystl.org
www.varietystl.org
SCHNUCKS TOY TROLLEY BRINGS TOYS, SANTA AND
A HOLIDAY PARTY TO EIGHT CHILDREN’S AGENCIES
This is the tenth anniversary of this annual holiday party for children’s agencies in the Greater St. Louis region.
ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI – November 8, 2005 – Schnuck Markets, Inc. will host the tenth annual Schnucks Toy Trolley holiday party to benefit more than 320 St. Louis Variety agency children on Friday, December 16. Children, ages 2 to 18, will anxiously await the arrival of Santa and his helpers as they arrive in the familiar red and green replica trolley car. Toys in see through bags will be loaded into the trolley at Schnucks headquarters at 11420 Lackland Road in West St. Louis County beginning at 8:20 a.m. Santa’s helpers include Schnucks associates, Santa’s mother, and Variety staff and volunteers dressed as elves and Rudolph with a blinking red nose. Santa and his crew will embark on their daylong journey to participating Variety partner agencies at 9:15 a.m. with the last delivery scheduled at 1:15 p.m. Variety partner agencies include William M. BeDELL A.R.C.; Children’s Home Society; Friedens Haus; Grace Hill Settlement House; Mathews-Dickey Boys and Girls Club; Our Little Haven; Queen of Peace; The Youth and Family Center.
Children will experience the joy and excitement of the holidays when Santa personally presents each child with a toy wrapped in brilliant holiday paper. Children will be extraordinarily surprised when Santa’s mother accompanies him to distribute the toys. The jubilation continues afterwards at a holiday party planned especially for them.
In preparation of the December 16 toy distribution and agency holiday parties, Schnucks associates will volunteer their time on two consecutive days. At Schnucks headquarters on Monday, December 12, from 8:30 a.m. to 11 a.m., Schnucks associates will sort the toys by agency, gender and age. On Tuesday, December 13, from 8:30 a.m. to 11 a.m., Schnucks associates will wrap more than 320 toys, tag them according to agency and load them into bags for distribution. Both events are scheduled in the Schnucks headquarters cafeteria.
Schnuck Markets, Inc. has funded this annual holiday party for ten years to benefit disadvantaged children in the Greater St. Louis region. SITE Improvement Association, Inc. members have contributed toys to this effort since this event was established. Annually, members donate toys in conjunction with their holiday party. (More)
For the second year, toys were donated by Variety Women, a committee of St. Louis Variety. Additional funding for toys was provided by individual donors who contributed to a special appeal at the November 15, 2005 Allocation Luncheon.
Formerly Variety Club, St. Louis Variety serves children with physical and mental disabilities in the Greater St. Louis region from infancy through the age of 21. St. Louis Variety President, Tony Ponturo, is vice president of global media and sports marketing for Anheuser-Busch Inc. St. Louis Variety Executive Director is Jan Albus.
Serving 1,300 families, St. Louis Variety provides medical equipment, transportation, on-going development programs and a resource referral center to help children with disabilities live as independently as possible. St. Louis Variety also provides financial support for 93 partner agencies whose programs benefit children with physical and mental disabilities. Serving a total of 200,000 local children, every dollar raised in St. Louis, stays in the Greater St. Louis region.
Established in 1928, Variety has grown to international prominence, helping children through 52 Variety chapters in 14 countries around the world, including chapters in Canada, England, Ireland, Israel, Japan, Netherlands, New Zealand South and West Australia and South Africa.
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