Annual Toy Drive Hits New Record
‘Santa Claus’ took more than 1,000 presents donated from local residents to Children’s Hospital patients late last week as part of the Lillie Kay Foundation annual toy drive. (submitted photo)
by Jonathan Weaver
For the third year in a row, more children at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh will have a brighter Christmas thanks to gifts from local residents.
More than 1,000 toys were collected from residents during the past few weeks and donated to children in need.
December 10, Ashley DiMond, her husband – Justin - and other volunteers – including an anonymous ‘Santa Claus’ - took toys such as baby dolls, robots and remote-controlled cars to children who might spend their Christmas in the regional hospital.
The donated toys this year exceeded last year’s total by nearly 100 and nearly tripled the total donations from 2013.
The Children’s Hospital toy drive was an extension of the Lillie Kay Foundation’s annual toy drive, which was originally formed December 14, 2010 on behalf of Lillie Kay Kimsey – who died only five days after she was born a year earlier.
The newborn’s death helped inspire her parents –originally of the Freeport area – to help other children in the hospital in her memory.
The evening commemorating Lilly Kay’s first birthday, her parents asked family and friends to bring gifts for Lilly Kay to donate to patients at Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital in Tennessee and it has taken off during the past five years.
Last year, DiMond officially became a board member for the Lillie Kay Foundation
Only a few days after the 2014 collection of more than 900 toys, DiMond said a $500 donation from the Kittanning Eagles helped her start collecting toys.
According to the Foundation’s social media pages, since the fifth-annual toy drive donated more than 4,600 toys, books and games between Vanderbilt, Seattle, Pittsburgh at St. Jude’s children’s hospitals last year, five or six more hospitals have been added to the collection circle.
No final total across the nation has yet been calculated.
W.L Roenigk Inc. of Sarver transported all the toys to Children’s Hospital.
Local News | jweaver December 14, 2015
