Christmas Comes Early to McFall Elementary

Penske employees from the company’s location at 52nd Street and M-37 filled two large boxes with new toys donated for McFall classrooms. 


“Three or four weeks ago, my neighbor who works here at McFall posted something about needing new toys for indoor recess at McFall. So, I reached out to my supervisor at Penske to see if we could take some donations to help out,” said Mike Plaska, lead tech employee at Penske.


Students from Mrs. Bumstead’s classroom excitedly climbed into the van and dove into the boxes to see what surprises were inside.  They found board games, memory card games, Play Doh, books and puzzles filling two large boxes inside the van. 


Bob Strader, supervisor at Penske, said it was all Mike’s idea. “He headed it all up, made flyers and got lots of donations. Little kids need good toys to play with so it wasn’t hard getting people to help out.”


Plaska’s daughter, Daisy, attends kindergarten at McFall. “Penske is really good when it comes to stuff like this to help kids and help our communities,” said Plaska.


Penske is located on 52nd Street on the Beltline. Strader said there are 26 employees at their location. 


McFall Principal Jon Washburn said the toys are being distributed throughout the building so students can use them during indoor recess times. “We really appreciate this donation and the community support for our kids. I know the kids are going to love playing with the new games and educational toys. I just want to say thank you to the Penske team and their generous donations.”