By Karen Gutierrez
The Cincinnati Enquirer

For an hour and a half Tuesday, Christopher McCulley stood in the drizzle outside the Brighton Center, waiting for the annual toy sale to begin.

Christopher is 12. His last decent bike was stolen three years ago, and this was his chance to snag another. Every Christmas, Brighton Center sells used toys, including about 30 bikes, for 5 to 25 cents each.

The sale is open to children ages 12 and younger, and dozens lined up early Tuesday, some with noses pressed against the front window.

Christopher came with his 5-year-old niece, Mandy Asher, whose hand he held protectively as they waited. Christopher's dad wanted him to find a bike for himself, but Christopher had other business on his mind: Shopping for six nieces and nephews.

"I want to give them all something for Christmas," he said.

That's typical, said his father, John McCulley, who waited in the parking lot with other parents.

"He'll worry about all of them first," McCulley said.

Brighton Center is a social-service agency that helps low-income families become self-sufficient. Every Christmas, it provides new gifts to the 800 households it serves. The sale of used toys, which are donated by the hundreds to the agency, is open to any child.

The three Griffin brothers come each year. Bryan Griffin, 12, showed up this time with $2.25 in his pocket.

"Last year we brought a dollar apiece, and we got a ton of stuff," said his brother Brandon, 11.

Each of the 200 shoppers was escorted through several rooms by volunteers. Tables were piled high with toys: action figures, robots, dolls, baking ovens, plastic purses.

A few kids made a beeline for a back room, where they knew the bikes were stored. Others patiently followed the path laid out by the volunteers.

By the time Christopher reached the bike room, his bag was bulging with gifts for other people. He quickly saw that only girls' models remained.

That was OK. He could make do.

"There aren't any boys' bikes left," he told his dad. "But I can get one for Tiffany."

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E-mail kgutierrez@enquirer.com