The Gift Of Joy At Christmas -- Salvation Army Provides Toys For Grateful Families -- The Times Fund For The Needy -- Seattle Times Fund For The Needy

This is one in a series of articles on The Seattle Times Fund for the Needy.

When every penny you've got goes for rent, food and utilities, Christmas is at once a luxury and a heartache.

"Kids always want things at Christmas, and that's hard because I just don't have much to put under the tree," said Lynda Wilds, a single mother of two. "But by the grace of God, there's always a way made for me."

For the past eight years, that way has been through the Salvation Army's Toy 'n Joy program. Since 1979, the Salvation Army has depended on The Seattle Times Fund for the Needy and other organizations to help give Christmas to those who might not otherwise have one.

Wilds, disabled since childhood by polio, can't work and just barely manages to cover the bills each month with help from social-service agencies.

Her daughter, 15-year-old Rayleen Gentry, sells candy door-to-door in their Leschi neighborhood after school to help out with the family's finances. There's little money for extras, like the video game Wilds has promised her 8-year-old son, Isaac Gentry Jr.

On Friday, the Salvation Army opens its Toy 'n Joy stores, where parents such as Wilds who qualify for assistance can select a new toy for each child, from infants to teens.

In this store, no money changes hands. The shelves are lined with mostly new gifts such as dolls, clothes, video games, sporting goods and other toys. Parents who ask for the agency's help are screened to make sure they qualify financially (at or below 125 percent of the federal poverty level). Then they're given gift vouchers to use at one of six "stores."

Christmas Central will open at Boeing Field, with branch stores in Renton, West Seattle, Bellevue, Federal Way and Kent. As many as 3,000 parents a day are served by the Toy 'n Joy program.

"Only the parent knows if it's the doll in the purple dress or the car that's red" that a child would most want to receive, said Cindy Cothern, the Salvation Army's community- relations director.

"This way, the toy comes from the parent, not a stranger or charity. When we say we work with the whole person - body, mind and spirit - our Christmas program is the part that really deals with the spirit."

This year, the Salvation Army hopes to give Christmas gifts to 22,000 King County children if donations hold out. The Salvation Army budgets enough money each year to keep the stores open about three days. After that, the stores stay open as long as donations last.

Last year, the program closed early, and this year so far, donations overall to the Salvation Army have been down about 9 percent from last year, Cothern said.

But all families that qualify do receive food vouchers to pay for a holiday meal.

Most of these families are paying 70 percent of their income or more for housing, said Mollie Curran, the Salvation Army's emergency financial-assistance-program coordinator.

"The thought of even buying back-to-school clothes or anything extra at Christmas is really impossible for them," she said.

This is the first year Annette Graves has asked for holiday assistance from the Salvation Army. A single mom with a 5-year-old daughter, she faced the uncomfortable prospect of telling her child that Santa couldn't afford to bring any presents this year.

All the money Graves makes working as a certified nursing aide goes to cover the rental of her duplex in the Central Area and other basics. It never seems to be enough, especially when Graves has to take time off work because of a rare blood disorder that causes her frequent nosebleeds and leaves her too weak to work.

Christmas is an especially hard time of the year.

"Christmas is all about children. I love to see their eyes light up Christmas morning," Graves said. "I'm grateful to be able to provide something for her."