July 16, 2025
Local NewsState & National

Stalker Chevrolet’s Silverado Sleigh back for 2016

By SCOTT VICKER

Employees at Stalker Chevrolet, 601 S. Sumner Ave., present Santa's Silverado Sleigh full of toys at the dealership Dec. 18, 2014. The toys were donated to MATURA the next morning. Pictured, from left, are Rhonda Ringsdorf, Trisha McDonald, Nathan Dudenhoeffer, Ron Higgins, Garrick Looney and Cazlynn White. (CNA file)

For the fifth consecutive year, Stalker Chevrolet, located at 601 S. Sumner Ave. in Creston, is collecting toys for youth in Union County with its Santa’s Silverado Sleigh campaign.

This year, the Santa’s Silverado Sleigh campaign began on Nov. 15 and will go through Dec. 13, when Stalker Chevrolet employees will deliver toys collected to MATURA in Creston.

“We were just kind of brainstorming something we could do for Christmas; something we could do to give back to the community,” said Nick Jannings, internet manager and sales consultant for Stalker Chevrolet. “We thought this would be a great way of doing that to help local kids here have extra presents under the tree.”

Participating in Stalker Chevrolet’s Santa’s Silverado Sleigh is simple. All people need to do is bring a new, unwrapped toy into Stalker Chevrolet and place it in the bed of the Silverado truck in the showroom.

“Bring in an unwrapped new toy, or they can bring in a money donation,” Jannings said. “We’ve already had a lot of that come in already, and we’ll do the shopping for you. I think maybe we might go do some shopping in the next week sometime.”

Jannings said Stalker Chevrolet started the campaign earlier this year than in years past, in hopes of giving MATURA more time to distribute the toys before Christmas.

Ron Ludwig, executive director of MATURA, said Stalker Chevrolet’s campaign provides for a great number of families in Union County.

“It’s a tremendous need,” he said. “Most people probably are unaware of the need that we encounter here in this area. Many of the families we work with, and individuals, their income doesn’t provide them with a lot of flexibility as far as going out and purchasing items for their children.”

Jannings expects the pile of toys in the truck to start growing after the weekend as more people start to get into “Christmas mode.”

The response from the community through the first four years of the campaign has been strong.

“Obviously, that’s why we keep doing it,” Jannings said. “The community really appreciates it. They get involved, so we’re going to keep doing it going forward.”

Ludwig added: “We’ve been able to help a lot of families throughout these five years. Words cannot describe how appreciative we are of what Stalker Chevrolet does and continues to do every year. It’s not anything they have to do and it’s something they took on themselves. That kind of generosity is hard to show how much we appreciate it.”