There on the first floor of the Kenlake State Resort Park main lodge, displaced children and families could only marvel at the mountain of toys available — just to grab, take and love. Free of charge.
The circumstances clearly aren’t ideal, as more than 150 displaced individuals living on the campus are trying to piece back together new beginnings following the December 10 and 11 tornadoes.
But for the briefest of moments, little girls and boys only had to think about books, bicycles, Barbies and board games, slices of pizza and Santa Claus, too.
It was all part of First Lady Britainy Beshear and her husband, Governor Andy, and their “Toy Drive” initiative for the Commonwealth — as families from Fulton County to Bowling Green lost not only their Christmas this year, but many of their Christmas’s past.
In a short amount of time, the governor said toys and gifts have poured in at such a pace, that his office plans to deliver birthdays over the next year to kids who were impacted by these losses.
It wouldn’t be possible, he added, had the donations and financial support hadn’t come not just from across the state, but across the country.
Kyle Jackson, of Sharpe, was one of the visitors slowly, but surely, picking out gifts. They weren’t for him or his family, but for a family in Briensburg that lost their home as the tornado tore through Marshall County on its way to Dawson Springs.
A toy drive like this, he said, bore a lot of meaning.
Kenlake cook Courtney Davis and Kenlake hostess Brianna Davison were just two of the paid employees on hand helping push toys to families, and for the last two weeks have been some of the workers positioned alongside the scores of volunteers helping on these frontlines.
Davison has a lot on her mind, too, as her sister lost a lot when the tornado went through Harvey-Brewers.
Beshear later went to Kentucky Dam Village, and on Thursday will be delivering toys to both Lake Barkley State Resort Park and Pennyrile Forest State Park.
