“Santa’s Elf” Hand Carves 400+ Wooden Cars for Kids

October 14, 2020 | The Villager | Reading Time 2:00 Minutes

Gary Pleyte is truly Santa’s Elf! After a recent project to remodel the Village Workshop, Gary and his wife Barbara were ready for a project that residents could enjoy doing together. Gary found a template of a wooden car in the Workshop from years ago, and the idea was sparked.

Gary immediately started talking to other residents about making wooden car toys to donate to locate charities to give to kids at Christmas. Soon the project was off and running! Gary and many other FVK residents started cutting, sanding, drilling and painting, until more than 400 toy cars were completed.

WATCH VIDEO – Gary Pleyte talks about the project: https://friendshipvillagekalamazoo.oneday.com/Video/739E27437C/?i=876a34d6-a1c9-410b-acdd-a24301e88448

The residents recently packed up the finished wooden car toys, and they are ready to be delivered to community charities. Come Christmas, kids all over the greater Kalamazoo community will be enjoying and playing with these one-of-a-kind wooden toys.

Thank you to Gary, Barbara and all of the FVK residents who participated in this project. You are truly an inspiration!