11/29/17 dgo local

HAYS, Kan. – Anyone who has helped with a Christmastime toy building event at Fort Hays State University will be in for a surprise this year.

The annual Dr. Fred P. Ruda Teaming Up for Tots Day will be held in the wood shop of the new Center for Applied Technology, completed this past summer in time for the start of the fall semester.

For the past 27 years, the Department of Applied Technology has built wooden toys for the TUFT program. The event is now named after Ruda, former chair of the department, who died in 2012.

The department is looking for volunteers for the 28th annual event, which will begin at 9 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 2.

Volunteers help FHSU staff and students build approximately 150 toys for children ages 3 to 5 who might otherwise not receive Christmas gifts. Volunteers do not have to register but rather can just show up the day of the event.

This year’s toy is a crayon-holding combine, complete with a moving header.

The wood shop will be set up as an assembly line with volunteers of all ages helping out. An adult supervisor is asked to accompany and supervise child volunteers.

The 58,000-square-foot CAT – located northwest of the Memorial Union, just off of Eighth Street on College Drive – is home to the Department of Applied Technology and the Department of Art and Design’s sculpture program. Volunteers can enter the main door of the  building and walk north toward the social cafe, then turn left toward the wood shop area.

For more information, contact the Department of Applied Technology at 785-628-4211.