Jax Woodworkers Club was founded in December 1989 by a few retired
woodworkers in Jacksonville, Florida. It was quickly decided JWC
members were to use their woodworking skills to make toys for children
in the area. Twenty-one years later and over 23,000 toys later, JWC is
going as strong as ever. Our membership ranges in ages from 17 to 101
years old.
In
2010 alone, we donated 3,229 toys to over 18
local agencies.
We have come a long way from those early days. This year has been a
very eventful year for JWC. Through our web site, we were contacted by
the Watkins Hobby Shop
located about 60 miles West of Jacksonville. They told us they have a
well-stocked woodworking shop and quite a few members with
varying
skills and were looking to help children in their community.
They
invited us to their location and a bond has formed between
our two
clubs. We provided them with toy plans, and help in
developing their
network of finding outlets for the toys they made. They
told us that
once they started making inquiries, they
quickly found a real
need in
their community for this. We are proud to be partners with Watkins in
their endeavors to bring smiles to the faces of needy
children in their
area.
Also, this year found a new and rewarding challenge for JWC. When
making contacts to area organizations, we contacted Seamark Ranch
(www.seamarkranch.com) to
see if they needed any toys
for their
resident children. We were amazed by their answer. They declined our
offer of toys, but instead, asked us to come to Seamark Ranch to mentor
and teach their children how to make toys. They had a modest
woodworking shop and the children, who range in ages from 5 to late
teens, were tired of making birdhouses. They wanted us to help them set
up their shop and teach the children how to use the machines to make
toys. They would donate them to JWC so we could distribute them to
needy kids in Jacksonville. What a concept! Don’t give them toys, but
teach them how to make toys for others! Since that initial contact, we
have donated many power and hand woodworking tools. They have a very
well stocked shop now. We then sent some members to help them set up
the shop in a logical order. We also gave them a demonstration on each
tool emphasizing proper use, care and safety. We even allowed some
supervised hands-on with each tool. Next, we went back to Seamark Ranch
to actually teaching the children how to use an assembly line to make
toys. JWC donated the wheels and axles to get them started. We do not
know what is more rewarding; giving toys to needy children or watching
the faces of children learning how to make toys for others.
Jax Woodworkers Club does not just concentrate on providing toys to
children. This year we made something special to give to our troops
stationed in Iraq and
Afghanistan. We built 1,296
triangle and
tic-tac-toe games. Many of our members are veterans who want to try to
bring a little joy to our active duty servicemen and women. The Greater
Jacksonville USO (United Services Organization) offered to ship the
games overseas for us. They have also asked to become one of the
agencies to receive toys at our annual donation. There are a number of
children of servicemen and women who need extra gifts during the
holiday season.
In May 2010, the Jax Woodworkers Club made a special donation of a
rocking airplane to Lea’s Place for their work with children in the
Jacksonville area.
Finally, in 2010, JWC was honored by the City Council of Jacksonville.
They commended us for our twenty-one years of tireless energy in making
toys and bringing smiles to the faces of children in need. In their
Proclamation (see the “Recognition” page on our web site), they said,
“Jacksonville is exceedingly fortunate in having in our midst,
neighbors and fellow citizens who, out of selflessness and love of
children and community, give of their time and creative talents to
build toys that bring joy and precious memories and we take this
opportunity to honor and commend JAX Woodworkers for their outstanding
charitable work …”.
One of the best ways to get a flavor of what JWC is all about, is to
visit our web site: www.jaxwoodworkers.org . This web site has given us
quite a bit of activity. We receive requests from all over the world
asking for our advice in woodworking. We even receive requests from
people to make some very unusual things for them. One example is the
request we got from a local high school. Their girls Lacrosse team
wanted us to build a life-size bear, their team mascot, with a hole as
its mouth so people could see if they could put a lacrosse ball through
the bear’s mouth at their homecoming.
