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Holiday Toy Drives: Help Make a Child Smile Brighter This Season

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Tony Maples Photography

 

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.

Holiday Toy Drives: Help Make a Child Smile Brighter This Season

Photo: Pixabay

At any time of year, helping kids in need is such a worthwhile cause. Be it through food, money, clothing, or volunteering your time, those efforts do not go unappreciated by their recipients. With respect to holiday toy drives throughout this state, the Texas Rangers manage an annual one (a link for which can be found here), Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) of Central Texas does (link available here), and the Holiday Wishes Program in the Texas Hill Country, which is managed by Partnerships for Children. There are so very many worthwhile organizations stepping up to help those in need this time of year and throughout the entire calendar. All you need to do is pick one that you feel best about working with, and before you know it, you’ll have helped to make a child smile brighter or feel better, and that’s the best gift of all!