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Local man creates toys for kids at homeless shelter
| Tuesday, Dec 11 2007 9:30 PM
Last Updated: Tuesday, Dec 11 2007 9:51 PM
In half of a four-car garage that would make Martha Stewart appreciate its organization, Terry Purrington spends hours making Christmas toys for kids who would otherwise go without.
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Toymaker Terry Purrington in his shop where he handcrafts wooden toys which he will later donate to the Bakersfield Homeless Center.
Toymaker Terry Purrington with a wooden airplane, one of the many wooden toys he makes and donates to the Bakersfield Homeless Shelter.
This is the third year Purrington, 61, has made wooden toys -- planes, trucks and cars -- and the second year he's given them to the kids at the Bakersfield Homeless Center. He estimates he's made 400 toys so far.
Purrington recently donated about 150 trucks and cars. The toys are designed for kids who are between 2 and 6 years old.
He'll continue to make the toys for the center as long as staff want them or until he can't physically do so.
"From what I understand, these (homeless) kids have nothing," he said. "Maybe it's the fact these are handmade. They get a better feeling that somebody cares about them."
Louis Gill, executive director of the homeless center, said the kids' faces light up when they're given the toys.
"Most of the kids, they have absolutely nothing here at the shelter, except for very few clothes. To get this individual, unique toy, it's a special Christmas," he said. The shelter typically houses about 100 kids a night, from newborns to 17-year-olds.
Purrington has plenty of wood-working tools, including table, radial arm, jig and band saws, a sander and a magnifying glass with a lamp to find the pesky splinters he constantly gets. A battered table is his mission control.
"This is my home. I sit here for hours and hours," he said. He listens to music, often classical, while he works.
A retired driver for Vons, Purrington puts 18 wheels on his wooden 18-wheeler trucks.
"I want them to look pretty real," he said. His smooth and elegantly simple creations don't feature any screws or nails and are "all-American made."
His toy-making repertoire features jets, bush planes, box trucks, flatbeds, roadsters, dragsters and a VW beetle-like car.
For the 2008 batch of toys, he's planning to make tanker trucks, which are easier to produce than box-cab trucks. Besides, they're cuter.
Around May or June, "I get the bug to get out there and start fooling around." He doesn't wait until Dec. 1 to fire up his workshop.
He and his wife, Barbara, moved from Diamond Bar to Bakersfield in 2004 to be closer to his son's family.
"I probably delivered to stores in Bakersfield hundreds of times, but I never considered living here until my son moved up here," he said.
Then his family moved to Colorado, but they're coming to Bakersfield for Christmas. Grandpa and grandma's house is decked out for the little ones, ages 6 and nearly 3.
The Purringtons tried selling Terry's homemade toys, but that didn't work. Then they gave them as gifts to friends. But he wanted to do something more.
Through his homeowner's association in Southern Oaks, he met Darlene Mohlke, vice president for sales and marketing at Castle & Cooke.
She serves on the board of the homeless center, and said Purrington is the kind of person who will help however he can.
"Not only is his spirit so endearing and giving, but (the toys) can't be cheap to make. He never asks for a dime," Mohlke said.
Although he's not one to seek attention, he hopes his example may inspire other retirees to get involved in the community. People who are interested in helping Purrington make toys can e-mail him via tnbflagwaver@sbcglobal.net.
And what's on the toymaker's Christmas wish list? Tools, of course.
"My kids and family always know, if nothing else, a gift certificate (for) Home Depot or Lowe's is always good," he said.
How to help
The Bakersfield Homeless Center is accepting donations of toys, books, clothing and food items for its Christmas meal. Donations accepted from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday - Friday, at 1600 E. Truxtun Ave.
Do you know someone whose life and contributions make an interesting story? Suggest them for a Real People story by calling 395-7418 or writing to local@bakersfield.com.