WEST JORDAN, UTAH | "We take wood that would be wasted, someone's time that would be wasted, and make a little toy so a child's mind won't be wasted." Founder Alton Thacker, 85, keeps a special wooden pointer at the desk to share his favorite memories on the wall. Then he introduces me to the workshop.
"And if you stand here," Alton declares with a twinkle in his eye, "you might see a car fly by." The two volunteers seated at the shuffling band sanders grin as I take a cautious step forward. It's the last leg in the factory tour of Tiny Tim's Foundation for Kids toy shop, where Alton and dedicated volunteers carefully craft scrap wood from a local cabinet shop into toy cars for children all over the world.
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| Scrap wood donated by a local cabinet shop keeps overhead costs down. |
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| Qualified and willing volunteers run the machines that cut, sand, and router the wood into shape. |
It's dusty in the workshop. Woodworking tools hum constantly as the unprocessed wood gets cut, glued, stenciled, sanded and routed into shape; the painting and wheels come later. But the quietest corner of the shop is the front door, where a glass display case holds key designs since the foundation started in 2002.
Three catch my eye.
Rivalry
There was a time when they went broke, Alton explains. A local university football team rivalry was coming up between the University of Utah (Utes) and Brigham Young University (BYU). The workshop designed two specially painted cars for the occasion and wanted to sell them, but their nonprofit status didn't let them do so. A kind stranger offered to take some. He returned with a thousand dollars. Alton still beams at the thought.
1-Millionth Toy
The third car, protected under a glass dome, is sky blue. Their one-millionth car made in 2018 greets visitors at the door, and bids them farewell as they leave. Someday it'll have a friend named 'two million'.
Happiness
"If you want to be happy, find someone to serve," Alton says. And service is part of the fun. "When you get old, sometimes it's hard to find the fun. This place is fun."
You can learn more about and support their mission at their website, here: tinytimstoys.org
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| A cardboard cutout prevents stray cars from launching during sanding. |
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| Wheels are attached manually. |
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| Founder Alton Thacker, 85, stands before a wall of photographs capturing some of his favorite, meaningful moments during his life journey. |
These images may only be used with direct permission from the photographer, Wendy Hurst.
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