‘Operation Toy Lift’ Donation Comes To WVU Medicine Wheeling Hospital

The huge box of toys that members of the Wheeling Police Department carried into the main entrance of WVU Medicine Wheeling Hospital - donations from last weekend's "Operation Toy Lift" - will mean more than Christmas cheer. Hospital officials said those toys will be a gift that keeps on giving long after the holiday season.

WPD employees dropped off the donation Wednesday afternoon. The haul came from the annual "Operation Toy Lift," a toy donation drive coordinated by WPD, the Belmont County Sheriff's Office and the United Way of the Upper Ohio Valley. This past Saturday, valley residents came to the Ohio Valley Mall to donate thousands of toys.

Staci Stephen, executive director of the United Way of the Upper Ohio Valley, said the toys would be available to nonprofit agencies throughout the valley. The toys that came to WVU Medicine Wheeling Hospital will go into the toy treasure chests that pediatric patients can pick from throughout the year.

"'Operation Toy Lift' brings toys to kids that need them," said Jessica Rine, associate vice president of Foundations and Community Relations at the hospital. "For kids in hospitals, it can sometimes be a little bit of a scary place, where they might have to give blood or something like that. It might not always be the most comfortable, pleasant thing, but these toys can bring quite a bit of comfort to the kids inside those hospital walls."

WPD Lt. Josh Sanders said he continues to marvel each year at the number of Ohio Valley residents who take time to head to the mall and donate toys or make cash donations to the United Way. He said that speaks to the caliber of people who live in the region and the size of their hearts as they help those who are less fortunate.

"The generosity of the people who live in the Ohio Valley is incredible," he said. "Eight hours we were out there, setting up and collecting toys and all kinds of stuff. It was just wave after wave of cars, vanloads and truckloads, sports teams and businesses bringing all kinds of toys."

WPD officers also spent time Wednesday passing out teddy bears to patients in the hospital's pediatric unit.

Stephen said a little over 10,000 toys were distributed last year and "Operation Toy Lift" organizers were on their way to passing out even more this year. She said that bringing joy to all who are in need in the Christmas season is an important mission.

"I can't even fathom there being kids out there that are going to wake up Christmas morning and not have anything under the tree," Stephen said. "So we try to serve as far and as wide as we can to make sure that doesn't happen."