Not all families are fortunate enough to give their children the kind of generous, gift-filled Christmas they might be hoping for. But one man is doing his part to try and change that.
According to ABC11, Jim Annis of North Carolina spends every Christmas season meticulously hand-crafting beautiful wooden toys for children from low-income families, and it’s a tradition he’s proudly kept for the last 50 years.
The 80-year-old veteran personally hand-makes every single one of the nearly 300 wooden toys he donates to the Salvation Army.
ABC11
Every day, he spends hours in his home workshop, carving, sculpting, and sanding blocks of wood into colorful toys for the local children in his community.
“When the Salvation Army gives out the food and clothes to people in this area, I give out my toys,” Annis said.
ABC11
“It feels like you’re sort of forgotten about at Christmas time.”
While he does accept some wood scrap donations from locals, Annis pays for everything else out of his own pocket.
ABC11
He averages that he spends somewhere around $1,000 for each year’s batch of wooden toys. However, Annis said, to him it’s not about the money.
His own childhood memories include waking up on Christmas morning without any presents to open under the tree.
ABC11
“My dad, he worked, but didn’t make a lot of money,” Annis explained. “It’s hard to have a big Christmas with five kids.”
So, he said, it’s not about the money for him, but rather about making these children from low-income families feel cared for.
Annis crafts all sorts of beautiful toys, including cars, dolls, piggy banks, tractors, and firetrucks.
ABC11
His 50-year-long tradition is one he hopes to keep up for as long as possible.
“I love when people ask me, how much do I get paid for making these toys,” Annis said.
“I tell them my pay is when I see the smile on kids’ faces. I hope to be able to do this until my toes curl up.”