4th Grade Boy Makes Toy Drive Personal
When a nine-year-old boy wondered what happens to those unwrapped toy donations people toss into cardboard boxes around town, he didn't like the answer so he decided to do something about it. Jamie's elf factory is now in its 4th year.
34957, December 2, 2014 (Newswire.com) - Ever wonder where your toy donations go? At the age of six, Jamie Ashbourne did and he didn’t like the answer. Dropping unwrapped toys in a cardboard box for children in need seemed like a horror scene out of a Toy Story movie to him. Not because of toy abandonment but because the collection and distribution seemed a waste. “These children who are already experiencing hard times will just get some random gift and then only if they’re lucky enough to be part of a distribution center?” says Jamie. He wanted to give he just felt that there could be a more personal way to do so. He wanted to wrap his donations and see the child’s face when they got the gift. So he set out to start his own toy drive.
It was four years ago that he took it upon himself to wrap his donations only to find no established charity would accept them. Even at that age, he remained undeterred and continued wrapping until he had a sack of toys that would rival Santa’s. Christmas was coming and all other toy drives were closed and already handing out their goods. With nowhere willing to accept his wrapped treasures, it was looking like it was all for nothing. When suddenly the elements aligned like something out of a movie to send Jamie to the Gertrude Walden Daycare center in Stuart, Florida.
This year at the age of nine, Jamie is in his fourth year of collecting lists and personally fulfilling, wrapping and delivering each item. The Elf Factory has granted personal toy wishes for over a hundred children and two years ago Jamie also shipped two giant boxes of gifts to families affected by Super Storm Sandy in New Jersey, ensuring families got what they needed and children, no matter their lot in life, got to experience the joy of the season.
Which begs to question, if a young boy making out his own list to Santa, realizes that the spirit of the season is meant to touch people in a personal way, shouldn’t everyone?
Children’s wish lists are coming in and Jamie is focused on fulfilling them by December 20th and Jamie is hoping that the rise in popularity of events like #GivingTuesday and Nickelodeon’s Halo awards, will inspire other aspiring Santas to join the cause.
Jamie’s Elf Factory is set up to take donations and requests online, at http://elffactory.org or you can just visit and read about one little guy on a mission.