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I dare you to read this whole thing... If it doesn't put a pit in your stomach, make you angry or make you shed a tear, then I guess you're off the hook and don't have to donate lol.
Kids going without on Christmas is a real event fellas. Please join us in helping some KIDS out this holiday season.
Heck, not only will you be helping a KID out, those who donate will be invited to play in multiple contests where over $4000 in wagering accounts will be given away from the likes of 5Dimes, Betonline, Justbet and Hollywood Sportsbook.
Your consideration is greatly appreciated. 100% of the donations goes towards TOYS for kids who are going through some unfortunate circumstances.
Here's the stories I'm referring to:
Every year we share some stories from the past which just goes to show how important this toy drive is.
Some are pretty touching while others are very inspirational. One thing can be said for sure. We have and will continue to make a positive difference in the lives of many!
What is probably the most humbling story of this 10 year toy drive and quite possibly of my life, is the story of young Tylor Wilson. At the time, he was around 9 years old. I had pulled up with a truckload full of goodies, many of which were going to Gateway Presbyterian Church, a great outfit here in my town that helps people when they're down. There was a good sized kid outside washing windows. I thought to self "man, that kid is young to be working!" as when I was a kid, I was far too lazy to wash windows! As it turns out, this kid wasn't any ordinary kid.
I struck up some conversation with him, talking about how big he was and how he should one day play some football when he's old enough. He joked about how his cousin had said the same thing. Knowing we had 100 footballs from the toy drive, I reached in the back of the truck and tossed one to him. I said here, take that and practice with it. The kid thanked me and then ran inside the church happy as a clam.
No more than a few seconds later, Joan comes out and tells me that the boys mom is the custodian at the church and was going to be one of the recipients of the toys as her family was going through some hard times financially. Joan (the church secretary/our contact there) told her that she no longer had to worry about trying to figure out how she was going to buy young Tylor gifts this year. Joan noted that the lady (Tylor's mom) broke down and started bawling, so she wanted to warn me that she may come out and thank me and be a bit shook up. Hearing that, I wanted to hurry up and get outta there asap as I don't do well around people that are upset or crying. A few mins later, the kid reappears with an older dude. It turns out it's this kids dad. He comes up to me and is thanking me profusely. As it turns out, he can't work because he has chronic seizures. He's thanking me one after another and I'm starting to get choked up because I can sense the desperation in his face. It was my first face to face with a situation where the reality of a real life hardship was happening.
I told him no sweat brother and that's what we do. So as I'm desperately trying to get out of there before the crying wife comes out, the bomb of all bombs gets dropped on me. The little boy comes up to me, and says "hey mister!" and holds out his hand and says the following words that I will NEVER FORGET.... "Will you take this and buy some more kids some toys?" The little guy handed me what I believe amounted to be sixty seven cents.
This kid had the presence of mind at age nine to understand what was going on and he had the heart to be unselfish and offer up his last 0.67. UNBELIEVABLE.
After that episode, while standing there, I experienced some sort of unexplainable feeling. Im a tall guy, but I felt like I was four feet tall. I was overwhelmed with emotion to say the least.
Needless to say, we basically sponsored this kid over the coming years and have purchased a mountain bike, monster truck/mudbog tickets, video games and other cool stuff for him.
Against my wishes, Joan from his church told him where I live and he brought me a plate of cookies in 2007. You will be happy to know that he has grown up to be a kid that does coat drives in the winter, gives blankets to the homeless and is an all star as a person. Id like to think that we helped contribute to his way of thinking however I do believe he was a special kid before our first contact with him.
==========================================
Not quite as long of a story, but just about as emotional...
We were in the local Kmart doing a toy shop. I had 3 others with me and we had 4 heaping carts of stuff along with 4 or 5 bicycles. A girl that dates a buddy of mine walked up to us and said what in the world are you doing!
I told her that our business and it's readers all pitch in to buy toys for kids from less fortunate situations. She asked who we donated to. I reeled off some of the places. Her eyes instantly filled with tears. Again, I felt really uncomfortable because I hate to see people cry. She then blurted out that she had gone through some hard times before meeting my buddy Corey and that she had received toys from one of the organizations we donate too. She then said "That was you?!?!" Not being one to enjoy being in the spotlight, I tried to play it off and once again say "Hey, that's what we do."
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A real short story that I dont have many details about and it's probably a good thing cause I may have had to open up a can of whoop ass on some deadbeat parents...
One of the churches told me that they had a late request for help/gifts for christmas for SIX kids. I was like six kids? Oh my. And then the church lady goes on to explain that not only was it six kids, but it was a gramma raising them all off none other than a social security income. Man did that one sting to hear about. Needless to say, we still had lots of toys so were able to fix that nasty situation.
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Another situation that about caused a meltdown... A life long friend of the family, Norma, works at the local Safeway grocery market here. She had told me about a lady she worked with whose husband didnt let their family celebrate Christmas. She told me that they had a domestic dispute, he had beaten her up or something of the like and was in jail for the holiday. So she says this lady only had 25 bucks to her name, but despite that, she was going to spend that last 25 bucks on a Christmas tree. NO ORANENTS, NO LIGHTS, NO GIFTS. To spite the ass clown husband, she was going to at least get her kids a tree. THIS STORY REALLY PISSES ME OFF!
So, i asked Norma to go find out what these kids wanted. Anything. You name it, we were gonna get it done. She calls me back and I about fell out of my chair. What did they want? RC cars? Video games? TV's for their bedrooms? Dolls? Your not gonna believe this.
THEY ASKED FOR A PACKAGE OF BATTERIES. Probably one of the most humble things I had ever heard. A little kid was asked what they wanted for Christmas and they would have been happy with batteries, to make their radio work. UGH. Unbelievable.
I ordered Norma to get back on the horn and get us a bigger request. We weren't about to only give these two kids batteries. In the end, we ended up getting some cool rc cars, dolls and some other stuff that I can't remember as well as their meager request of BATTERIES.
Their dad should of been shot. What an ******* and what a sickening story.
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Another sick story that I will never forget happened again at the church. Joan called me asking if we had anything left over. Supposedly an 11 yr old girl had a cracked out mom who had taken all her toys back to the store so she could go get high. UGH. I shot down to the church and the girl happened to be there. I opened up the back of the truck and to my dismay all we really had was BOY stuff. Nerf football, nerf hoops, board games, and a bunch of boy stuff. Unbelievably, she was ecstatic to receive these things. Imagine that, an 11 yr old girl excited about getting a nerf football and trust me fellas, this wasn't a football girl. She was a dainty girly girl dressed in pink but was just happy that she wasn't forgotten on Christmas. That story literally made me wanna puke. We had no girl stuff left. All I could think to do was reach in my wallet and come out of pocket fifty bucks which I handed to her gramma to take her to walmart to get some girl stuff. UGH. That one still hurts a little.
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You'd have probably had to been here for this one to get the full effect, but the best story of 2009 was an absolute act of graciousness.
We were in line at K-Mart with a TRAIN of heaping shopping carts. There were a couple ladies staring us down from the next checkout line. One of them walks over to me and hands me a 20 and says "Sir, I don't know what you're doing but I want to be a part of it" and walked away.
Again, you'd have probably had to have been there to really grasp the true feeling of this act. I thought it was off the chart when it came to kindness.
------------------------------------------------------------------
There are many other stories as well. One of my favorite things is when all the organizations come to our location (used to be my house, now we use a church) to make their pickups. I used to deliver stuff but its become too big of a job. It takes over a full day to organize the toys to take a picture of. lol. People show up with huge smiles on their faces and are thankful for YOUR generosity. I wish that you could be here to experience it. They appreciate your unselfish acts and are very thankful as they take great pride in making sure that no kid gets left behind.
THANKS TO ALL WHO PARTICIPATE IN THIS AND ALL TOY DRIVES OUT THERE.
You are truly appreciated more than you'll ever know.
Information on how be part of this great event can be found here: <a href="http://www.predictem.com/forums/predictem-com-11th-annual-holiday-toy-drive/28342-predictem-11th-annual-christmas-toy-drive.html">Predictem 11th Annual to Drive</a>.
Kids going without on Christmas is a real event fellas. Please join us in helping some KIDS out this holiday season.
Heck, not only will you be helping a KID out, those who donate will be invited to play in multiple contests where over $4000 in wagering accounts will be given away from the likes of 5Dimes, Betonline, Justbet and Hollywood Sportsbook.
Your consideration is greatly appreciated. 100% of the donations goes towards TOYS for kids who are going through some unfortunate circumstances.
Here's the stories I'm referring to:
Every year we share some stories from the past which just goes to show how important this toy drive is.
Some are pretty touching while others are very inspirational. One thing can be said for sure. We have and will continue to make a positive difference in the lives of many!
What is probably the most humbling story of this 10 year toy drive and quite possibly of my life, is the story of young Tylor Wilson. At the time, he was around 9 years old. I had pulled up with a truckload full of goodies, many of which were going to Gateway Presbyterian Church, a great outfit here in my town that helps people when they're down. There was a good sized kid outside washing windows. I thought to self "man, that kid is young to be working!" as when I was a kid, I was far too lazy to wash windows! As it turns out, this kid wasn't any ordinary kid.
I struck up some conversation with him, talking about how big he was and how he should one day play some football when he's old enough. He joked about how his cousin had said the same thing. Knowing we had 100 footballs from the toy drive, I reached in the back of the truck and tossed one to him. I said here, take that and practice with it. The kid thanked me and then ran inside the church happy as a clam.
No more than a few seconds later, Joan comes out and tells me that the boys mom is the custodian at the church and was going to be one of the recipients of the toys as her family was going through some hard times financially. Joan (the church secretary/our contact there) told her that she no longer had to worry about trying to figure out how she was going to buy young Tylor gifts this year. Joan noted that the lady (Tylor's mom) broke down and started bawling, so she wanted to warn me that she may come out and thank me and be a bit shook up. Hearing that, I wanted to hurry up and get outta there asap as I don't do well around people that are upset or crying. A few mins later, the kid reappears with an older dude. It turns out it's this kids dad. He comes up to me and is thanking me profusely. As it turns out, he can't work because he has chronic seizures. He's thanking me one after another and I'm starting to get choked up because I can sense the desperation in his face. It was my first face to face with a situation where the reality of a real life hardship was happening.
I told him no sweat brother and that's what we do. So as I'm desperately trying to get out of there before the crying wife comes out, the bomb of all bombs gets dropped on me. The little boy comes up to me, and says "hey mister!" and holds out his hand and says the following words that I will NEVER FORGET.... "Will you take this and buy some more kids some toys?" The little guy handed me what I believe amounted to be sixty seven cents.
This kid had the presence of mind at age nine to understand what was going on and he had the heart to be unselfish and offer up his last 0.67. UNBELIEVABLE.
After that episode, while standing there, I experienced some sort of unexplainable feeling. Im a tall guy, but I felt like I was four feet tall. I was overwhelmed with emotion to say the least.
Needless to say, we basically sponsored this kid over the coming years and have purchased a mountain bike, monster truck/mudbog tickets, video games and other cool stuff for him.
Against my wishes, Joan from his church told him where I live and he brought me a plate of cookies in 2007. You will be happy to know that he has grown up to be a kid that does coat drives in the winter, gives blankets to the homeless and is an all star as a person. Id like to think that we helped contribute to his way of thinking however I do believe he was a special kid before our first contact with him.
==========================================
Not quite as long of a story, but just about as emotional...
We were in the local Kmart doing a toy shop. I had 3 others with me and we had 4 heaping carts of stuff along with 4 or 5 bicycles. A girl that dates a buddy of mine walked up to us and said what in the world are you doing!
I told her that our business and it's readers all pitch in to buy toys for kids from less fortunate situations. She asked who we donated to. I reeled off some of the places. Her eyes instantly filled with tears. Again, I felt really uncomfortable because I hate to see people cry. She then blurted out that she had gone through some hard times before meeting my buddy Corey and that she had received toys from one of the organizations we donate too. She then said "That was you?!?!" Not being one to enjoy being in the spotlight, I tried to play it off and once again say "Hey, that's what we do."
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
A real short story that I dont have many details about and it's probably a good thing cause I may have had to open up a can of whoop ass on some deadbeat parents...
One of the churches told me that they had a late request for help/gifts for christmas for SIX kids. I was like six kids? Oh my. And then the church lady goes on to explain that not only was it six kids, but it was a gramma raising them all off none other than a social security income. Man did that one sting to hear about. Needless to say, we still had lots of toys so were able to fix that nasty situation.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Another situation that about caused a meltdown... A life long friend of the family, Norma, works at the local Safeway grocery market here. She had told me about a lady she worked with whose husband didnt let their family celebrate Christmas. She told me that they had a domestic dispute, he had beaten her up or something of the like and was in jail for the holiday. So she says this lady only had 25 bucks to her name, but despite that, she was going to spend that last 25 bucks on a Christmas tree. NO ORANENTS, NO LIGHTS, NO GIFTS. To spite the ass clown husband, she was going to at least get her kids a tree. THIS STORY REALLY PISSES ME OFF!
So, i asked Norma to go find out what these kids wanted. Anything. You name it, we were gonna get it done. She calls me back and I about fell out of my chair. What did they want? RC cars? Video games? TV's for their bedrooms? Dolls? Your not gonna believe this.
THEY ASKED FOR A PACKAGE OF BATTERIES. Probably one of the most humble things I had ever heard. A little kid was asked what they wanted for Christmas and they would have been happy with batteries, to make their radio work. UGH. Unbelievable.
I ordered Norma to get back on the horn and get us a bigger request. We weren't about to only give these two kids batteries. In the end, we ended up getting some cool rc cars, dolls and some other stuff that I can't remember as well as their meager request of BATTERIES.
Their dad should of been shot. What an ******* and what a sickening story.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Another sick story that I will never forget happened again at the church. Joan called me asking if we had anything left over. Supposedly an 11 yr old girl had a cracked out mom who had taken all her toys back to the store so she could go get high. UGH. I shot down to the church and the girl happened to be there. I opened up the back of the truck and to my dismay all we really had was BOY stuff. Nerf football, nerf hoops, board games, and a bunch of boy stuff. Unbelievably, she was ecstatic to receive these things. Imagine that, an 11 yr old girl excited about getting a nerf football and trust me fellas, this wasn't a football girl. She was a dainty girly girl dressed in pink but was just happy that she wasn't forgotten on Christmas. That story literally made me wanna puke. We had no girl stuff left. All I could think to do was reach in my wallet and come out of pocket fifty bucks which I handed to her gramma to take her to walmart to get some girl stuff. UGH. That one still hurts a little.
------------------------------------------------------------------
You'd have probably had to been here for this one to get the full effect, but the best story of 2009 was an absolute act of graciousness.
We were in line at K-Mart with a TRAIN of heaping shopping carts. There were a couple ladies staring us down from the next checkout line. One of them walks over to me and hands me a 20 and says "Sir, I don't know what you're doing but I want to be a part of it" and walked away.
Again, you'd have probably had to have been there to really grasp the true feeling of this act. I thought it was off the chart when it came to kindness.
------------------------------------------------------------------
There are many other stories as well. One of my favorite things is when all the organizations come to our location (used to be my house, now we use a church) to make their pickups. I used to deliver stuff but its become too big of a job. It takes over a full day to organize the toys to take a picture of. lol. People show up with huge smiles on their faces and are thankful for YOUR generosity. I wish that you could be here to experience it. They appreciate your unselfish acts and are very thankful as they take great pride in making sure that no kid gets left behind.
THANKS TO ALL WHO PARTICIPATE IN THIS AND ALL TOY DRIVES OUT THERE.
You are truly appreciated more than you'll ever know.
Information on how be part of this great event can be found here: <a href="http://www.predictem.com/forums/predictem-com-11th-annual-holiday-toy-drive/28342-predictem-11th-annual-christmas-toy-drive.html">Predictem 11th Annual to Drive</a>.