The Toymakers
The Toymakers is an outreach of the First United Methodist Church, Bangor and makes toys for children and provides them to hospitals and agencies who distribute them to the children. Toys are provided at no cost to children who are in hospitals, rehab clinics, terminal care facilities; are homeless, in shelters with a parent; or with parents absent due to military deployment or imprisonment. These toys are provided in an attempt to bring them some joy and happiness while they are in a tough situation. None of these children are in situations that they caused, but they are suffering from physical or emotional distress as a result.
The Toymakers donate their time and the use of their shop facilities to make these wood toys. The purchased parts are paid for by donations. The toys are made from hardwood which is sanded smooth and left unpainted with no coating of any kind. We are now providing over 1000 cars per month to 36 hospitals and many other service agencies. Goal: The goal of The Toymakers is to provide toys for as many hospitals and child caring agencies in the state as possible. These organizations then get the toys to the children in need. History: In 2007, there was an article in Workbench magazine about a group in Florida making toys for kids in tough situations. They have delivered over 240,000 toys since 1982 with a stated Goal of: to start chapters of The ToyMakers across the United States, supporting Ronald McDonald Houses and nearby agencies who care for our children. As a result of interest from the article, over 80 groups have started in North America to attempt to meet the need for toys for kids. Their web site http://www.thetoymakers.org/friends.htm describes their activities. After discussions with the Florida group we started making wood cars and trucks and giving them away to local hospitals and agencies. This mission has grown as we have been able to add more hospitals and service agencies in the state. We have monitored the Federal regulations regarding the safety of toys for children and all the toys we make and provide for all agencies are unpainted and use non-toxic Cyanoacrylate glue to attach the wheels. In support of this ministry, we are provided raw materials from the following wood products manufacturers; JSI Store Fixtures (Milo) and Shaw & Tenney (Orono) and by Casey’s Wood Products (Woolwich) who provides wheels and dowels at a significant discount. There was an article in Sept 2010 in the Bangor Daily News about the Bangor Toymakers. http://www.bangordailynews.com/story/Living/Toys-to-treasure,154232 Contact: The Toymakers c/o First United Methodist Church 703 Essex Street Bangor, ME 04401 During the last year, toys have been provided to these hospitals, agencies and organizations: Maine General Hospital, Augusta Eastern Maine Medical Center, pediatrics and geriatric wards, Bangor St. Joseph's Hospital, Emergency Dept. and Cardiac Cath. lab, Bangor MDI Hospital, Bar Harbor Waldo County General Hospital, Belfast Southern Maine Medical Center, Biddeford Blue Hill Memorial Hospital, Blue Hill Saint Andrews Hospital and Healthcare Center, Boothbay Harbor Bridgeton Hospital, Bridgeton Mid Coast Hospital and Parkview Hospital, Brunswick Calais Regional Hospital, Calais Cary Medical Center, Caribou Miles Memorial Hospital, Damariscotta Mayo Regional Hospital, Dover-Foxcroft Maine Coast Memorial Hospital and Physician's Pediatric Center, Ellsworth Franklin Memorial Hospital, Farmington Northern Maine Medical Center, Fort Kent C. A. Dean Medical Center, Greenville Houlton Regional Hospital, Houlton Central Maine Medical Center & St. Mary’s Regional Medical Center, Lewiston Penobscot Valley Hospital, Lincoln Down East Community Hospital, Machias Millinocket Regional Hospital, Millinocket Milo Family Practice Clinic, Milo Stephens Memorial Hospital, Norway Sebasticook Valley Hospital, Pittsfield Maine Medical Center, Barbara Bush Children's Center, Portland Aroostook Medical Center, Presque Isle Penobscot Bay Medical Center, Rockport Rumford Hospital, Rumford Goodall Hospital, Sanford Redington-Fairview General Hospital, Skowhegan Inland Hospital and Maine General Hospital, Waterville York Hospital, York Ronald McDonald Houses, Bangor and Portland Technical Explorations Center, equipment adaption for disabled and handicapped children, Bangor Town of Dexter, low income children’s Christmas gift programs Town of Corinna, low income children’s Christmas gift programs Town of Exeter, low income children’s Christmas gift programs Town of Newport, low income children’s Christmas gift programs Hands of Hope Ministries, needy children’s Christmas gift program, Bangor Manna Ministries, Hands of Hope Ministries, Prison Ministries, Hermon Baptist Church and Bangor Church of God, low income family and Christmas gift programs, all of greater Bangor MAPS, unwed and homeless mothers support centers and Step Up houses, Bangor, Houlton and Portland Manchester Health Services, Manchester, VT | Springwood Store CLICK TO SHOP |
Toymakers of Bangor donates toy cars for children to hospital.
Republican Journal
Belfast — The Toymakers of Bangor provides toys to children who are in hospitals, rehab clinics, terminal-care facilities, homeless shelters with a parent, or who have parents absent due to military deployment or imprisonment.
Pictured, emergency room nurse, Carrie Bacon looks over some of the wooden cars and trucks recently donated to Waldo County General Hospital in Belfast by Thomas Christensen of Toymakers of Bangor.
Pictured, emergency room nurse, Carrie Bacon looks over some of the wooden cars and trucks recently donated to Waldo County General Hospital in Belfast by Thomas Christensen of Toymakers of Bangor.
Toys to help kids heal: Thousands of toy cars yield thousands of kid smiles
Bangor Daily Newspaper
Most people’s basements are packed full. Old family photographs, records, furniture, you name it. But Tom Christensen’s basement is full of cars. Often as many as 5,000 at a time.
Christensen works in his basement on wooden toys that he donates to children in hospitals and homeless shelters, or those with parents in the military or in prison. The handmade wooden cars Christensen assembles in his basement workshop are donated to children in hospitals and homeless shelters, or those with parents in the military or in prison.
“It’s all about making some kids happy,” Christensen says. “There are a lot of kids in tough situations that they didn’t cause. It gives them a time to step out of their problem for a while. Some kids just need to know somebody cares about them.”
The project began in 2007 when the University of Maine professor of electrical engineering technology saw an article in Workbench magazine. It was about the ToyMakers, a Florida organization that provides free wooden toys to children in need.
Christensen founded the ToyMakers of Bangor, and at first, he spent up to an hour and a half creating each car as a custom-painted work of art.
Now he’s whittled that down to about six minutes by simplifying the designs and leaving the cars unpainted in case their new owners want to add their own designs. Regulations at many hospitals and agencies now restrict donations of any painted toys.
The cars are up to 5 inches long and come in a variety of models, including racecars, minivans and delivery trucks.
And Christensen certainly knows his audience.
“The little girls, they like these,” he says, pointing out a hybrid-style car. “They call them mice.”
In the first six months of this year, Christensen produced nearly 6,000 cars. His goal is to deliver toys to each hospital in the state. Already, he provides wooden toys to more than 30 hospitals, agencies and groups.
Among them are Eastern Maine Medical Center, St. Joseph Hospital, the Ronald McDonald House, Manna Ministries and Hands of Hope Ministries in Bangor.
Once he delivers the boxes of toys, each containing about 75 of the wooden cars, staff members distribute them to children. Even for hospital waiting rooms that had to remove toys for sanitation purposes, Christensen makes enough so each child who visits a hospital can take one home.
“We don’t make any judgment calls, whether someone has the need or not. If the question is, ‘Can I?’ the answer is, ‘Yes,’” he says.
In addition to children whose parents are sick, young patients have considerable needs, as well. The toys help children in hospitals feel more comfortable, says Sandra Gordon, community relations coordinator at Waldo County General Hospital. At the hospital, emergency room and ambulatory care staff distribute the cars to young patients.
“It helps them to relax and to think about playing a little bit, and it takes their minds off their surroundings there,” Gordon says.
Christensen, the father of three grown children, also knows that siblings of sick children often get unintentionally overlooked.
“It’s not the hospital’s job to look after them, and the parents are stressed enough,” he says. For that reason, he makes sure each child who wants a car can have one.
He says even teen patients make use of the toys, painting them or decorating them with markers and stickers provided by the hospital or their family.
In addition to the cars, Christensen creates wooden nut-and-bolt toys for stroke patients to use to help regain fine motor skills. He says feeling the grain of the wood evokes memories. His wife also crochets lap robes for area hospitals.
Christensen, who is semi-retired from the university, dedicates up to 50 hours a week making toys, more than some people work at their full-time jobs. Yet, he points out, it’s only a quarter of the 168 hours in a week.
“My wife says I’m obssessed,” he smirks, “but really, there’s just not enough time in the day. I spent 30-plus years at the university, and I felt as that was winding down and coming to a close, you’ve got to find other things to do.”
Christensen is full of restless energy, his hands grazing the smooth surfaces of his cars as he moves from room to room, his voice filling in gaps in conversations.
“It’s something to do, you know?” he says. “You’ve got to do things to keep you awake.”
A dozen plastic barrels line his basement workshop, packed with wood scraps of every dimension donated by Milo’s JSI Store Fixtures and Orono’s Shaw & Tenney.
To build a car, Christensen chops each plank into equal lengths. He then splits the blocks in half diagonally, producing the frames for two cars. He checks each piece for splits and roughness, then rounds the edges, drills the axle holes and sands it twice over.
A handful of Christensen’s friends have been coming over a couple nights a week since the beginning of the year to “play in traffic,” as he puts it, helping him cut car bodies, round the edges or drill holes for axles.
Every month or so, Christensen spends about $500 on wooden wheels and dowels purchased from Casey’s Wood Products in Wiscasset. His church, First United Methodist of Bangor, recently held a bean supper and donated half the proceeds to his project.
In addition to his friends and church family, Christensen’s wife and children help him in his work. His sons, ages 22 and 30, help sort materials and cut parts, while his wife, 27-year-old daughter, and 6-month-old granddaughter accompany him to hospitals for toy drop-offs.
From the time he was in seventh grade, Christensen knew he wanted to be an engineer.
“How else can you design and build stuff that’s cool?” he says. “And that’s what I’ve spent my life doing. Building stuff. And lots of it.”
Christensen graduated from UMaine with his bachelor’s in agricultural engineering in 1971 and his master’s in 1973. He began working for the university in 1974, first for the Department of Agricultural Engineering in the College of Agriculture and then the College of Engineering.
This spring, the university recognized his volunteer work with a Presidential Public Service Achievement Award, which he received at the May 7 Academic Honors Convocation at the Collins Center for the Arts.
Now he hopes to recruit fresh hands for his project, ideally someone in each town to work with his or her area hospital.
“It’s not complicated, it’s not expensive,” he says. “I’m not going to be around forever, but I’m going to do it as long as I’m able.
“You just keep driving, keep doing it,” he says. “When the little kids smile, when parents and staff say thank you, you keep going. You just keep sowing seeds.”
Christensen works in his basement on wooden toys that he donates to children in hospitals and homeless shelters, or those with parents in the military or in prison. The handmade wooden cars Christensen assembles in his basement workshop are donated to children in hospitals and homeless shelters, or those with parents in the military or in prison.
“It’s all about making some kids happy,” Christensen says. “There are a lot of kids in tough situations that they didn’t cause. It gives them a time to step out of their problem for a while. Some kids just need to know somebody cares about them.”
The project began in 2007 when the University of Maine professor of electrical engineering technology saw an article in Workbench magazine. It was about the ToyMakers, a Florida organization that provides free wooden toys to children in need.
Christensen founded the ToyMakers of Bangor, and at first, he spent up to an hour and a half creating each car as a custom-painted work of art.
Now he’s whittled that down to about six minutes by simplifying the designs and leaving the cars unpainted in case their new owners want to add their own designs. Regulations at many hospitals and agencies now restrict donations of any painted toys.
The cars are up to 5 inches long and come in a variety of models, including racecars, minivans and delivery trucks.
And Christensen certainly knows his audience.
“The little girls, they like these,” he says, pointing out a hybrid-style car. “They call them mice.”
In the first six months of this year, Christensen produced nearly 6,000 cars. His goal is to deliver toys to each hospital in the state. Already, he provides wooden toys to more than 30 hospitals, agencies and groups.
Among them are Eastern Maine Medical Center, St. Joseph Hospital, the Ronald McDonald House, Manna Ministries and Hands of Hope Ministries in Bangor.
Once he delivers the boxes of toys, each containing about 75 of the wooden cars, staff members distribute them to children. Even for hospital waiting rooms that had to remove toys for sanitation purposes, Christensen makes enough so each child who visits a hospital can take one home.
“We don’t make any judgment calls, whether someone has the need or not. If the question is, ‘Can I?’ the answer is, ‘Yes,’” he says.
In addition to children whose parents are sick, young patients have considerable needs, as well. The toys help children in hospitals feel more comfortable, says Sandra Gordon, community relations coordinator at Waldo County General Hospital. At the hospital, emergency room and ambulatory care staff distribute the cars to young patients.
“It helps them to relax and to think about playing a little bit, and it takes their minds off their surroundings there,” Gordon says.
Christensen, the father of three grown children, also knows that siblings of sick children often get unintentionally overlooked.
“It’s not the hospital’s job to look after them, and the parents are stressed enough,” he says. For that reason, he makes sure each child who wants a car can have one.
He says even teen patients make use of the toys, painting them or decorating them with markers and stickers provided by the hospital or their family.
In addition to the cars, Christensen creates wooden nut-and-bolt toys for stroke patients to use to help regain fine motor skills. He says feeling the grain of the wood evokes memories. His wife also crochets lap robes for area hospitals.
Christensen, who is semi-retired from the university, dedicates up to 50 hours a week making toys, more than some people work at their full-time jobs. Yet, he points out, it’s only a quarter of the 168 hours in a week.
“My wife says I’m obssessed,” he smirks, “but really, there’s just not enough time in the day. I spent 30-plus years at the university, and I felt as that was winding down and coming to a close, you’ve got to find other things to do.”
Christensen is full of restless energy, his hands grazing the smooth surfaces of his cars as he moves from room to room, his voice filling in gaps in conversations.
“It’s something to do, you know?” he says. “You’ve got to do things to keep you awake.”
A dozen plastic barrels line his basement workshop, packed with wood scraps of every dimension donated by Milo’s JSI Store Fixtures and Orono’s Shaw & Tenney.
To build a car, Christensen chops each plank into equal lengths. He then splits the blocks in half diagonally, producing the frames for two cars. He checks each piece for splits and roughness, then rounds the edges, drills the axle holes and sands it twice over.
A handful of Christensen’s friends have been coming over a couple nights a week since the beginning of the year to “play in traffic,” as he puts it, helping him cut car bodies, round the edges or drill holes for axles.
Every month or so, Christensen spends about $500 on wooden wheels and dowels purchased from Casey’s Wood Products in Wiscasset. His church, First United Methodist of Bangor, recently held a bean supper and donated half the proceeds to his project.
In addition to his friends and church family, Christensen’s wife and children help him in his work. His sons, ages 22 and 30, help sort materials and cut parts, while his wife, 27-year-old daughter, and 6-month-old granddaughter accompany him to hospitals for toy drop-offs.
From the time he was in seventh grade, Christensen knew he wanted to be an engineer.
“How else can you design and build stuff that’s cool?” he says. “And that’s what I’ve spent my life doing. Building stuff. And lots of it.”
Christensen graduated from UMaine with his bachelor’s in agricultural engineering in 1971 and his master’s in 1973. He began working for the university in 1974, first for the Department of Agricultural Engineering in the College of Agriculture and then the College of Engineering.
This spring, the university recognized his volunteer work with a Presidential Public Service Achievement Award, which he received at the May 7 Academic Honors Convocation at the Collins Center for the Arts.
Now he hopes to recruit fresh hands for his project, ideally someone in each town to work with his or her area hospital.
“It’s not complicated, it’s not expensive,” he says. “I’m not going to be around forever, but I’m going to do it as long as I’m able.
“You just keep driving, keep doing it,” he says. “When the little kids smile, when parents and staff say thank you, you keep going. You just keep sowing seeds.”