December 15, 2015

I've told this story before, but it still makes me tear up.

A few years ago, I was looking for the Toys for Tots drop-off box in a T-Mobile store. The manager asked if he could help me.

"Yeah, this address is listed as a Toys for Tots donation center, but I don't see it," I said. He pointed to a box stuck all the way in the corner. And then this big guy, who looked more like an NFL linebacker than a store manager, kind of choked up as he told me how much he appreciated it.

He told his mom had been a struggling single parent, and that if it hadn't been for Toys for Tots, he wouldn't have had anything under the tree. "So I just want you to know that kids really appreciate it, and I'm thankful for people like you who donate," he said.

I know how people are struggling. God knows, I've been there. And getting toys on Christmas doesn't seem like the most important thing in the world when so many people don't even get enough to eat.

But it's a good thing, a nice thing -- and I'll never forget how the memory of it made a grown man cry. If you can donate, please do it. Click here to either donate money, or to find a place to drop off a toy.

Discussion

We welcome relevant, respectful comments. Any comments that are sexist or in any other way deemed hateful by our staff will be deleted and constitute grounds for a ban from posting on the site. Please refer to our Terms of Service for information on our posting policy.
Mastodon