Delivering Joy: Local Toy Drives Spark Connection

Christmas 1994 was a memorable holiday for my family. The most significant event of the season was my baby brother coming home from the hospital on Christmas Eve after spending four months in the neonatal intensive care unit as a preemie. On top of this joyous occasion, a local charitable organization gifted our family a heap of delightful gifts for each of us seven children. It was by far the most luxurious of all my childhood Christmases, and I never forgot the act of generosity by total strangers to bring some extra cheer to our struggling family. Almost 30 years later, it’s the memory of that selfless generosity, not the gifts themselves, that brings back a feeling of gratitude and of being seen and valued in my community.  

Strangers Helping Strangers Over the decades, toy drives like the one my family benefitted from those many years ago have become as much a part of American Christmas tradition as any other holiday ritual. And what makes this tradition unique is the connection made between strangers who happen to inhabit the same community. Last year, my church congregation participated in a community-wide toy drive organized by The Salvation Army, a Christian church and international charitable organization headquartered in London, England, and with a presence in Clark County. We collected new, unwrapped toys in the weeks leading up to Christmas, and turned them in to a church regional rep who in turn delivered them to The Salvation Army. Shortly after we turned in all of our toys, a couple of extra toy donations came in and I was tasked with delivering those extras directly to the Downtown Vancouver warehouse where The Salvation Army’s toy sorting was well underway. I’m not sure what I expected, but when I arrived at the address I was given, I was blown away to see . . .

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