Jim Annis in Sanford, North Carolina has been making toys for children for the past 50 years. The 80-year-old veteran loves creating wooden toys. Jim carves, sculpts and sands his creations until they are complete and ready to give to children. Do you remember nostalgic wooden toys?
Generally, he donates around 300 wooden toys every year to his local Salvation Army. He said, “When the Salvation Army gives out the food and clothes to people in this area, I give out my toys. It feels like you’re sort of forgotten about at Christmas time.”
A veteran makes wooden toys for kids for Christmas every year
He pays for all of the materials himself, but he does get some wooden scraps from his neighbors. He likes to make different sizes of cars, dolls, piggy banks, firetrucks, and tractors. “Between the wheels and paint, I spent about $1,000,” he said.
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Jim admitted that he loves to donate toys because he didn’t get that many growing up. “My dad worked but didn’t make a lot of money. It’s hard to have a big Christmas with five kids. I love it when people ask me how much do I get paid for making these toys. 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.”