By C1 Staff
BISMARCK, ND — The North Dakota Department of Corrections has a program going where donations of toys are repaired and cleaned up by inmates that then go to The Salvation Army.
The Bismarck Tribune reports that donations to the Christmas Playpen project were steadily increasing toward the end of the charity drive, with numbers being comparable to the previous year.
The project is a partnership between the Tribune, the DOC, The Salvation Army, and several other stores. It collects gently used toys and bicycles that are then repaired by inmates at the Missouri River Correctional Center and the Dakota Women’s Correctional Center before being distributed to qualifying families.
CO Wendlin Rohrich said most of the toys this year didn’t need fixing, just cleaning and new batteries.
The Salvation Army will then take the toys and run a series of “Joy Shop” events from Dec. 16-18, where families can apply to receive toys for Christmas.