Toy Time makes another run with the Mid Ohio HOG Toy Run

The Mid Ohio Harley Owners Group (HOG) is a group of devoted Harley motorcycle owners. They are also dedicated to giving back to their community. On Saturday, 18 members participated in the 28th Annual Toy Run for Toy Time.

According to Hale’s Sport Center Inc. owner Lee Hale, Mid Ohio HOG has raised over $50,000 over the 28 years they have been involved in the Toy Run. It is always on the first Saturday in November.

This year, nearly a truckload of donated toys was collected and given to Toy Time, a charitable organization devoted to this mission: “To assure that every needy child in Richland County will have a toy at Christmas.”

“We like to give back to the community as much as we can,” said Hale. “We just enjoy helping local families in the community.”

For the Toy Run, usually around 30 to 40 motorcycle owners will come out to the event. They will hop on their bikes and drive down to Toy Time on Diamond Street to drop off the collected toy items. Hale said this year was the coldest yet.

“I’m a sissy; anything below 50 and that’s cold for me. But yeah, this year was the coldest,” he said. He said this year’s attendance reflected the harsh weather because only 12 members with motorcycles came to the event to ride down to Toy Time.

“We got about $2,000 this year. We were able to purchase 25 twenty-five-dollar gift cards to Toys ‘R Us with that,” said Hale.

The Mansfield Fire Departments also accepting toy donations throughout the year said Mark Sieving. “Things have been picking up around here lately because people are thinking about it, but we’ve been doing this since I’ve been here, which is 22 years,” he said.

Hale said Toy Time’s charity is one that directly contributes to the well-being of Richland County.

“Sometimes you give to organizations that are national or international, but this one is a true charity for Richland County,” noted Hale.

Hale’s Sport Center Inc. is located at 1400 Harrington Memorial Road in Mansfield. They will be accepting donations all year from Monday to Saturday 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.