Empty Stocking Club brings joy to shoppers and volunteers alike

The Alliant Energy Center hall fills with nearly 12,000 toys, from skateboards to dolls, and a red carpet guides families around the Toy Depot. Hundreds of volunteers dressed in Santa hats and reindeer headbands help parents pick a free toy as holiday music plays. In another room, Madison Reading Project helpers pick the right book for each child.

But none of that captures the joyful feeling that emanates from every corner of that toy store. 

I asked John Primm about it. He describes himself as a "pathologically overbooked" retiree, and he volunteers at both the setup and the actual Toy Depot each year, often with friends in tow. 

From his point of view, the volunteers at Empty Stocking are lucky, because that merriment they feel comes from the clients there shopping for toys who are kind enough to share their joy and gratitude with them. 

"I think we're all in this together. I think it's people connecting with people" that makes it so special, said Primm, a Madison resident who worked in a research lab, for a medical instrument company and as a project manager in biochemistry at UW-Madison before retiring.

Like many people, Primm knows firsthand that any of us could be in need of a hand because of one medical bill or one lost job.

"I know acutely what it's like to choose between diapers and food," he told me. "Add a toy into that. I know how that feels."

So Primm and hundreds of other volunteers work hard to make the Toy Depot a special place. It starts with unloading semis of toys, paid for entirely with donations from Wisconsin State Journal readers and other community members.

From there, crates are opened and toys sorted by type and color. Primm and other volunteers rely on those with some design skills to set up the displays the families will see when they hit the red carpet. 

The setup takes about a day, and then for two days volunteers help families pick out toys and books. There are runners who retrieve the selected toys and shopping helpers among the many volunteers.

Despite the packed hall and the flurry of activity, the event is well organized and positivity fills the spaces between shoppers and helpers. Everyone has the game goal: a happy holiday for every child.

I asked Primm what he would say to potential donors who make Empty Stocking Club possible. He said it doesn't matter how much someone donates. It could be a dollar or $1,000. It matters.

"This is a thing that anyone can do by giving any amount to your neighbor."

Well said, John.