Each year, the Texas State Guard does a “Young Heroes of the Guard” Toy Drive, which benefits Texas children’s hospitals as well as battered women’s shelters. Getting its start in 2009, the drive is now in its 10th year. They initially began with a goal to service the Dallas/Fort Worth area, servicing children confined to hospitals there for the holidays. Since then, they’ve expanded their efforts to encompass the entire state, helping thousands of kids who’ll spend Christmas in the hospital or who otherwise don’t have a place to call “home.” It’s toy drives like this that makes Christmas a little merrier for children across Texas.
People throughout Texas have helped the Texas State Guard in their toy drives each year, by donating toys, being a host for a collection box, and volunteering to sort, package, load, and deliver the toys that are collected. In addition, donations of money or toys can easily be made through the step-by-step link provided on the Texas State Guard “Young Heroes of the Guard” Toy Drive website, provided here. At present, 74 contributors have donated close to $6K towards the goal of $100K in monetary support. Likewise, 49,664 toys have been collected toward their goal of 60,000 to distribute.