Wishes depend on everyday Santas

A Tarpon Springs man is among several gathering toys to help 1,500 children of migrant farm workers have a happy Christmas.

By RICHARD DANIELSON

© St. Petersburg Times, published December 14, 2000

The other day, a volunteer at the Good Samaritan Mission wondered aloud where the ministry would get all the toys, clothes and shoes it gives every Christmas to the children of migrant farm workers in southern Hillsborough County.

Not to worry, said the mission's Laura Cruz. She believes that God provides for the mission through community help, and she can point to many people around the Tampa Bay area as evidence.

"We know for sure that we are going to get what we need," she said.

This year, she said, Neil Gerbe of Tarpon Springs is one of the people meeting that challenge. Gerbe, 38, is organizing a toy drive Sunday in western Pasco County to provide toys for some of the 1,500 children expected at the mission next week for what might be the only Christmas they get.

"This means so much for us," Cruz said, "and we are very, very excited."

Last year, Gerbe loaded his big red van with bikes and toys and drove to Balm, a tiny community in the midst of Tampa's citrus groves and vegetable fields, to contribute to the mission. He was moved to act after reading a newspaper story on Christmas Day about a heartsick little girl who was unintentionally left out when a St. Petersburg church group gave out bikes through the mission.

Gerbe returned in the spring with about five dozen Easter baskets. This Christmas, he wants to take more than a vanload of goods.

"We're going back," Gerbe said this week. "I'm just a guy who sells cars for a living, and my wife and kids, we just like going."

Gerbe will be in front of the Port Richey Toys "R" Us, 6233 Tacoma Drive, just north of Gulf View Square mall on the west side of U.S. 19. From 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., he'll pass out fliers to shoppers and accept donations of toys to be delivered to the Good Samaritan Mission next week.

"When (Cruz) told me how many kids there were now, I was overwhelmed," Gerbe said. "I want to show up and have them all be excited. They're all good kids."

Cruz, the mission's associate pastor/director, said the mission plans to distribute toys Dec. 21 and 22.

"Everything we receive we give away," she said. The mission maintains rooms stocked with toys, new clothes and new shoes, and lets children choose their own Christmas gifts. The kids' wish lists include toy cars and trucks for boys, dolls and tea sets for girls, and balls and table games for both. The mission is a non-profit organization that provides food, clothing and household goods to migrant families, as well as religious services, health screenings and medical assistance, free legal counseling through volunteer attorneys, after-school tutoring and college scholarships to migrant children.

Cruz said Gerbe is one of many people in the Tampa Bay area who will help make next week's Christmas celebration possible. Every year, for example, a group in Hudson sews clothes for dolls that are given away.

"This is a very, very big day," Cruz said. "These kids deserve the best, and they wouldn't get a toy or wouldn't get something new, some clothes or some shoes, unless they got it through the mission."

- Staff writer Richard Danielson can be reached at (727) 445-4194 or danielson@sptimes.com.

To donate toys

Contact Dora Cruz or Laura Cruz at the Good Samaritan Mission, 14920 Balm-Wimauma Road, Balm, 33503; (813) 634-7136. In Pasco County, a toy drive will take place from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday at the Port Richey Toys "R" Us, 6233 Tacoma Drive.

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