Thursday volunteers paint toys for Happy Factory

• Julia LeBaron / Scroll Staff
• posted: 20 Feb 2007
• scrollcampus@byui.edu

Barbie dolls, Spiderman action figures, Transformers — it seems all toys must have lights, sounds and gadgets beyond belief to hold a child’s attention.

Often toys are played with for a week or two, then lose their appeal and collect dust bunnies under the bed. Children in third- world countries do not have such advantages. Many have never owned a toy manufactured in a factory or bought from a store.

Charles and Donna Cooley feel that every child should have a toy to love and play with. It was for this reason that in 1995, the Happy Factory was created, According to www.happyfactory.org. A workshop was set up in their home near Cedar City, Utah.

The Cooleys fashioned toy cars from scraps of wood, painted them and gave them wheels, then donated them to various charities in their community for underprivileged children.

The idea quickly spread and the demand for these handmade toys grew rapidly. Soon the Cooleys were donating hundreds of toys to organizations such as the Ronald McDonald House, which helps distribute the gifts worldwide, according to www.happyfactory.org.

What started in an elderly couple’s home rapidly grew to a sizeable organization that includes states all over the country. Participating states include Utah, Arizona, Oregon, California, Texas, Idaho, Wyoming, Georgia, Minnesota, Illinois, Nevada and Florida. The organization also includes Brazil and the United Kingdom.

The Cooleys have happily dubbed their efforts The Happy Factory. They chose this name because of the happiness it brings to them and to the children who receive the wooden toys. It remains a non-profit organization and welcomes all those who wish to participate.

Volunteers at BYU‑Idaho also wanted to help, so an organization was established on campus about eight years ago. The Happy Factory is an activity that takes place every Thursday from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the foyer by the bookstore in the Manwaring Center.

Wood scraps are donated by the campus wood shop and local wood shops. Every week students gather together to first carve then sand and paint the toy cars.

Vivian Nunez, a junior from St. Paul, Minn., said she would love to see the reactions of the kids who receive the toys. You don’t think a toy would make such a difference, but really, a loved toy to a child can mean everything, she said. Nunez is the program manager for the Happy Factory at BYU‑I. This is her third semester doing volunteer work.

I couldn’t love it more, she said.

The Happy Factory is probably the most social service activity on campus, said sophomore Jess Duncan, a student from Galt, Calif. It’s a great FHE activity.

The Happy Factory is also sponsoring one of the activities for Mothers’ Weekend on March 2-4. All toys that are made on campus are shipped to Utah and then shipped to various places all over the world to children in need.

Students can simply show up to the MC to participate.