Christmas in April? DuPage Woodworkers make toys for kids

Ever see a herd of giraffes on wheels? Or turtles?

In late April, 25 woodworkers created upward of 700 toys like these for underprivileged kids at a workshop in Downers Grove. With a yearly goal of more than 2,500 toys, they like to get an early start.

Members of the DuPage Woodworkers, a 501(c)3 organization, make toys all year around, in their own workshops individually and in group workshops on a kind of assembly line.

That assembly line created more than 200 toys: felt-lined doll beds and 500-600 vehicles — sedans, SUVs, school buses and trucks sized for small hands.

When the club distributes the toys to nonprofit organizations in Chicago and suburbs, the doll beds come with a doll and a blanket. Other toys include puzzles, airplanes, helicopters and crayon holders with coloring books.

The club purchases most of the materials, including wood for the beds and wheels and axles for the vehicles. Club members donate the rest, along with their time and skills.

“Some of my neighbors call me Geppetto,” said George Rodgers, of Western Springs, toys committee chair and club president. “But everyone who participates in the workshop has one or more roles to play, from sawing to sanding and routing to gluing and nailing.

“We work with eight to 10 nonprofits that serve families and kids,” he said, with distribution in November in time for holiday parties.

“The giraffes and turtles on wheels are made for the smallest kids, and the menagerie also includes ducks and pigs,” Rodgers said. “They come with no finish so the kids can get out their markers and color them any way they’d like to.”

DuPage Woodworkers is open to anyone interested in wood and holds monthly meetings with speakers on a variety of topics.

A schedule of its meetings is at dupagewoodworkers.org and guests are welcome. Meetings generally are on the third Monday of the month at 7 p.m. at St. James the Apostle Catholic Church, 480 S. Park Blvd. in Glen Ellyn.