Helping Santa In Keweenaw County With Toy Drive

Thanks to strong support from the community, the Keweenaw County Sheriff’s Department is providing Christmas gifts to those who need them.  “What we do is we provide toys and warm clothing for children in the area who are in need,” said Sheriff Bill Luokkanen.

This is the 20th year that the department has participated, and Sheriff Luokkanen says that the program would not be possible without the help of others.  “We have toy boxes where people can donate set up in various places around the area such as, the White House Inn in Mohawk, Superior National Bank in Mohawk, the Gay Bar in Gay, Aspirus Keweenaw, the UP Health System, or here. You can always deliver them right to the Sheriff’s Office and we’ll take it from here,” Luokkanen said.

Toys can be dropped off at any of those locations, and donors can also send in money which will be used to buy toys.  Luokkanen said, “Monetary donations are very helpful to make sure that the older kids are taken care of. What happens is a lot of people–it’s easier for them to buy toys for the younger children so a lot of time the older kids fall through the cracks. What we like to do is to go shopping for them, myself and some of the folks from the courthouse, and the toys are brought together and then we use our trailer. Myself and usually one of the deputies will deliver all of the toys right to the families before Christmas.”

Last year, the Sheriff delivered toys to over 40 families in the area.  “We partner with partner agencies to get lists of families in need, but we also take walk ins and we take suggestions from people’s neighbors. We may have people coming in on the very last day and we make sure that they get something as well,” said Luokkanen.

To make a donation or to be added to the recipient list, you can simply call the sheriff’s office.  Luokkanen said, “They can contact the Keweenaw County Sheriff’s Office at (906) 337-0528 and we can take care of that for them.”