Volunteers braving summer heat to make Christmas toys for local charities

PHOENIX - Santa does have some elves working hard to make toy cars for Christmas and you'll find them right here in Phoenix.

By 8:30am on a Monsoon hot Saturday morning, employees, family and friends of TIP Maintenance and Turken Industries were already hard at work.

The hum of power tools filled the muggy air and fluttering bits of saw dust clung to sweaty hands and brows.

A man at a table saw was chopping large 2x4’s into blocks as others drilled small holes and buffed wooden edges.

What may surprise you is what they were building, small wooden toy cars.

Joe Hernandez works for TIP Maintenance and explained how they volunteer several weekends, even a few shifts after work, in order to get hundreds of cars ready for Christmas.

The cars are donated to local charities through a mission called, “ Toys for God’s Kids ”.

Meyer Turken, owner of TIP Maintenance and Turken Industries, supplies the materials, the machines, and pizza for everyone who shows up.

A sign above the toy car production line reads “Turken Auto Works”.

Turken said kids just love the little toys and he found people enjoy doing good things for other people.

Not many of us dedicate our summer weekends to the assembly-line production of handcrafted wooden toys of good cheer.

It takes half a year of dedication and volunteerism to complete the cars by December.

At a nearby table several children busily dipped thin sticks into glue and then plopped on wooden wheels.

The kids are also in charge of quality control. They stamp each car with the words ‘USA” and “TIP” and then roll them along a fold-out table to make sure the wheels are steady.

Hernandez said they made 600 cars last year but are aiming for 900 this year.

He’s been surprised that despite the economy being tough on everyone the workers keep coming, keep bringing their families, keep volunteering their time to make cars for children in need.