Mike Duman, first vice president of the District 1 Virginia Automobile Dealers Association, believes in helping children, and this past Christmas he and the District 1 dealers helped collect more than 300 toys for Santa Claus to deliver to needy children in Suffolk, Virginia Beach and Norfolk.

Duman, who celebrated 22-years as &uot;Duman Auto&uot; in December, said the toys were collected by the independent dealers from across Hampton Roads. He also noted that since he is from Suffolk, he wanted to ensure that children here would benefit from the effort.

&uot;We were trying to determine just who would get the toys and we definitely wanted Suffolk children included,&uot; said Duman. &uot;We initiated this project this year and we hope to continue it throughout the coming years.&uot;

In Suffolk, the toys were presented to Betty Knight of the &uot;King’s Kids&uot; organization founded by Bishop Obadiah Colander many years ago.

&uot;We’ve been involved with the King’s Kids almost from its inception and we wanted to make sure they receive gifts,&uot; said Duman. &uot;Betty Knight and John Colander, son of Bishop Colander who founded the King’s Kids, are always so great to us in accepting the donations we’ve given over the years. We are thankful that we are able to help the children of Suffolk again this year.&uot;

Knight works diligently to assure that not one of the King’s Kids goes without, no matter the occasion.

She pointed out that on the Dec. 18th excursion; two full bus loads of the youth went to view the holiday lights and a Christmas story production in Newport News.

&uot;We made Christmas goodie bags and packed lunches for more than 100 children,&uot; said Knight. &uot;Each one of the children also received a gift from Santa. We truly appreciate all that people like Mike Duman and the District 1 Automobile Dealers do for us. It’s only through organizations like theirs that the King’s Kids have been able to enjoy some of the wonderful things like they had this past holiday season.&uot;

The &uot;Samaritan House&uot; in Virginia Beach, and St. Mary’s Home for Children in Norfolk were also recipients of toys from the Auto Dealers Association. Tidewater Auto Auction helped out, making sure the toys were distributed to their destinations so that Santa could deliver on Christmas Eve.

Anyone who would like to contribute to the King’s Kids may do so by writing to PO Box 3163, Suffolk, Va., 23439, or stop by the office at 481 Wellons St. for more information. The phone is 934-8718.