LaRoche Toy Drive delivers cheer for Children Services clients
Jed LaRoche, from left, and information technology assistant Zach Dopkiss from the LaRoche Toy Drive hand out gifts to Belmont County Children Services staff Courtney Clark and Jennifer Fietz for the children they help.
Jed LaRoche, from left, and information technology assistant Zach Dopkiss from the LaRoche Toy Drive hand out gifts to Belmont County Children Services staff Courtney Clark and Jennifer Fietz for the children they help.
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MARTINS FERRY -- The first LaRoche Toy Drive will benefit some area children in need of Christmas cheer.
On Tuesday, LaRoche Tree Service employees stopped at the Martins Ferry office of Belmont County Children Services to unload a truckload of toys. Customer service Manager Jed LaRoche wished all a merry Christmas.
"LaRoche Tree Service and LaRoche Aviation, we basically wanted to give back to the community and one of the things we were looking to do is provide for the kids, especially around Christmas time. So we started to put this together. It was about eight months ago," he said.
Jed LaRoche said John LaRoche, Children Services supervisor and uncle of the business owner, suggested benefitting the youngsters served by Children Services.
"He had mentioned there were a lot of children in need, so we started promoting it and going out there, and we'll hopefully continue this," Jed LaRoche said. "We've also had other places reach out to us and partner up next year to hopefully make it grow more. .We wanted to just make sure a lot of kids could have some toys for Christmas. We know how great the Ohio Valley is and all the people of the Ohio Valley. A lot of people came through for us and provided us with a lot of toys.
"We also were able to donate $500 in gift cards and cash donations and things like that, so hopefully the kids in need might even be able to get some food and things they might need for Christmas," he said.
He estimated the effort was able to gather close to $800 worth of gift cards and cash.
"As for toys, the whole truck was filled up to the back. There was probably every bit of 150 toys," he said.
Organizers have high hopes for the future.
"We actually had a toy store reach out to us to try to partner up next year, so we're looking to try to grow it that way. We're hoping to do this every year and help the children out in the area," he said.
John LaRoche said the donations were a welcome source of help.
"On behalf of the Belmont County Department of Job and Family Services, I just want to thank LaRoche Tree Service and their employees. We have 56 children in our custody and another 50 who are still in their homes, plus we maintain contact with several families that we've dealt with and worked with over the years. Of course this year with the cost of everything everyone's been reaching out, so these toys can go to kids throughout the entire county," he said.
"A lot of these toys and gift cards and money proceeds will go to providing holiday meals for these families that are in the home that are just in need," he said, noting his agency has "a few more kids in custody than we've normally had in the past."
Anyone wishing to learn more can call the business at 740-671-9488. Children Services can be reached at 740-695-1075.