Woodworkers Carve Out Gifts for Kids

Although Bob Rennie has his own wood shop and makes wooden cabinets for corporate jets, he said he gets more satisfaction making holiday toys for needy kids every year.

“I’m hooked on this,” said Rennie, chairman of the holiday toys project and a member of the San Fernando Valley Woodworkers. “It is certainly the highlight of my year.”

About 40 people also hooked on helping others showed up at El Camino Real High School’s wood shop to make toys all day Saturday. They built 125 race cars and 75 cradles, which will be accompanied by handmade dolls and quilts.

Later this month or in December, the toys will be given to the Los Angeles Fire Department for distribution to children by Haven Hills, a West Valley shelter for domestic violence victims, and to an organization that helps Native Americans.

The volunteers started preparing for the project in February when they tossed around ideas about which toys to make, Rennie said. Except for some prefabricated parts, the workers make almost all the wood gifts in one day.

This was the seventh year volunteers built the toys, which can make a real difference during kids’ holidays, Rennie said.

“We’re just letting them know that there are people who care for them. This may be the only toy they get this season,” said Rennie, 39, of Granada Hills. “We never see them--we never meet them--but we know they will be happy as a result of receiving [the toys].”

“We’re giving back to the community what we received,” added Barry Lampke, a wood shop teacher at El Camino Real. “You got to pay back sometime. You can’t always take.”