An ongoing program of the St. Croix Chippewa Indians of Wisconsin will help to make Christmas much merrier for hundreds of children in northwest Wisconsin: from December 1 through 7, the tribe’s 2013 Gifts from the Heart toy drive collected 2,500 toys and gifts for children of all ages.
Almost 2,200 guests and employees of the St. Croix tribe’s three casinos—St. Croix Casino Danbury, St. Croix Casino Hertel Express and St. Croix Casino Turtle Lake—donated toys to this year’s drive. Donated toys were distributed to 14 northwest Wisconsin charities on December 9 and 10 by Tyler Buck, Patti Frie and Judy Warmanen of St. Croix Casino Turtle Lake. Since 1993, the Gifts from the Heart toy drive has collected and distributed 100,000 toys to northwest Wisconsin charities.
“The St. Croix Chippewa and the St. Croix Casinos are grateful to be a part of the effort to bring children in our surrounding communities a merry Christmas,” said St. Croix Casino Turtle Lake General Manager LeRoy Buck. “We thank our generous guests and employees for continuing to support the Gifts from the Heart toy drive every year.”
The following charities received toys from the 2013 Gifts from the Heart drive: Christmas for Kids Program, Chetek; Clayton Christmas Fund, Clayton; Clear Lake Christmas Fund, Clear Lake; Indianhead Community Action, Webster; Operation Christmas, Balsam Lake; Operation Santa, Rice Lake; Prairie Farm Lions Club, Prairie Farm; Rusk County Salvation Army, Ladysmith; Salvation Army, Somerset/New Richmond; Spooner Christmas Fund, Spooner; Stone Lake Emergency Fund, Stone Lake; Turtle Lake S.O.S. Program, Turtle Lake; Washburn County Food Pantry, Spooner; and WestCAP, Glenwood City.
