Polk prisoners handcraft hundreds of wooden toys to donate to Toys for Tots

Inmates make toys for kids, build skills for their future

For the past 20 years, prisoners at Polk Correctional Institution have made hundreds of wooden toys by hand each holiday season to donate to Toys for Tots.

POLK CITY, Fla. - Not many Christmas toys are handmade anymore.

But prisoners at Polk County Correctional Institution just made more than 700 wooden toys by hand and donated them to Toys for Tots of Polk County.

Truck, boats, planes, an alligator on a stick – you name it, the men can produce it.

The partnership has been in place for 20 years and makes hundreds of kids' holidays happier.

Dave Waller, who heads Toys for Tots in Polk County, says there is another plus as well: the woodworking skills and discipline of going to a job every day could ultimately help them land a new career in construction or the trades.

"I think it gives the prisoners something to do when they get out," he told FOX 13.

All the materials for the project are provided by Home Depot and private donors.

If you want to help, call Leslie Pippin at Polk Correctional Institution, at 863-984-1769.