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SUBMITTED PHOTO The Beach Toy Library, an idea of St. Cloud resident Jacqueline Cruz, is up and running at the Lakefront Park beach, teaching children and families to share. -
The Beach Toy Library, an idea of St. Cloud resident Jacqueline Cruz, is up and running at the Lakefront Park beach, teaching children and families to share.
The new Beach Toy Library continues to grow in popularity after a month of its installment at the beach at St. Cloud Lakefront Park.
Local resident and architectural detailer Jacqueline Cruz said she got the inspiration from her 6-year-old son, Lennon, and Lt. David Miller’s Fire PALS boxes, which are hand-made and include fire safety literature and other books.
“I want (Lennon) to go out there and see that you can bring your visions to life when you have enough persistence,” said Cruz.
Cruz said her goal in creating the Beach Toy Library was to have a place where children could borrow toys to play with during their time at the beach. She thanked St. Cloud Parks and Recreations Deputy Director Michael Tennaro and Jordan Hallett, who each helped her throughout the construction of the Beach Toy Library.
“I’d submitted them a construction drawing for it with the idea and they decided to build it for me,” Cruz said. “I wouldn’t have been able to execute it as well without them. They did so much by donating the structure, creating the structure, and supporting me.”
Tennaro said it was something they hadn’t seen before, but seemed in line with the Fire PALS book libraries.
“Mrs. Cruz reached through email to Parks and Recreation with the idea and the design, and the parks supervisor and I met with her at the Lakefront beach and immediately thought it was a unique and attainable idea,” he said.
Local residents Jessie Strop and Kiersten Sturm, along with Cruz, help patrol late evenings to monitor the bin. Their tasks consist of return toys to their rightful place, remove broken toys, process the donated toys, and restocking the toy bin.
Sturm said she is grateful for what Cruz has done for the community.
“I’ve even overheard parents telling their kids, ‘Yes, we can play with these, but we have to put them back when we’re done,’” Sturm said. “It makes me so happy to hear these families teaching their children these good practices.” But not all things have been bright for the Beach Toy Library. Theft became an issue the first few days it was installed. Strop said the first day checked on the toy bin, she found that 80 percent of the toys had been taken.
“Jackie had said from the beginning if somebody really needs that toy desperately, we want them to have it, but we can’t continue without the support of the community to keep things maintained.”
Strop said she suggested to Cruz that the theft could have been due to a language barrier. So, to prevent further theft and branch understanding, Cruz enlisted the help of St. Cloud’s Creative Printing to print 150 stickers labeled ‘Property of St. Cloud, please return’ on the toys to prevent theft, as well as a donated sign with Spanish instructions.
Strop said plastic toys such as big trucks, frisbees, sand shifters, buckets and hand shovels are some toys stocked in the toy bin.
As of right now, the Beach Toy Library has received toy donations from Nellis Sunshine Daycare and Mater Academy. Cruz said she hopes to partner with more local businesses to keep the Beach Toy Library stocked.
Anyone can donate their gently used toys by name or anonymously directly to the toy library at the Lakefront.
Cruz thanked a number of families—the Strops, Loedings, Zelaskos, Brownes and Kim Dorsey for generous donations: “I don’t do these things for the compliments, I do this because it’s in my heart,” said Cruz. “I just want to help, to give back to the community, because if everyone just showed a teeny bit more, this world could be so much of a better place.”
Those interested in aiding in Cruz’s cause can email her at jacqueline.andreozzi@gmail.com
