Christmas Toy Store 2013
The Christmas Toy Drive, organized and completely run by HHS juniors, Alex Beard and Doug Andrews, proved to be the best one to date for the Foundation. Held on Saturday, December 14th at the Chester Boys and Girls Club, the event dazzled and overwhelmed so many children and was the absolute, highlight of our year! Almost 300 children were served by the 1,500 toys which were donated to the Andrew L. Hicks, Jr. Foundation! The children were selected from various elementary schools throughout Chester, based on their unique circumstances and each child was invited by written invitation, along with all of his or her siblings to come and shop at the Toy Store.
Each invited child was assigned a shopping time and upon arrival, was given $12 in play money. Then the child was paired with a “personal shopper” who took the child through the Toy Store and helped him or her make the difficult decisions about which toys to choose. Most of the children really had a hard time deciding on what to pull off the table. The West Chester United Soccer Club’s Predators 98 Boys team spent their day escorting little ones through the toy store and making it a great day for them!
The gifts were absolutely beautiful this year; so creative and unique and of such high quality! The children were also encouraged to take home a hat, gloves and a scarf, a stocking stuffed with small toys and candy, and a few books! Every personal shopper had his or hands full by the time the child finished shopping.
After leaving the Toy Store, the child was welcomed at the wrapping station and each of his gifts was wrapped with festive Christmas paper and tied up with a bow. The children also enjoyed hot chocolate and cookies together before heading home. It was hard to tell who had the best time…the kids, the personal shoppers, the wrappers, the parents, or Alex and Doug!
We realize that it is only because of the incredible generosity of the friends of the Andrew L. Hicks, Jr. Foundation that this event is possible. Five days before the event, we had 825 toys collected and were really hoping to reach our goal of 1,000 toys. 675 more toys came in those last five day!s We are deeply thankful for the support of so many!
Special Thanks:
West Chester United Soccer Club Predators 98B
Chester Boys and Girls Club
Rochelle Baxter
Shanna Pryor, Toby Farms Elementary
Susanne Cianfaro, Chester Community Charter School
Brian Warren, Chester Boys and Girls Club
Specialty Resources, Inc.
CR Style Salon
Arianna’s Gourmet Cafe
3D Body Works
Henderson High School
Landmark Americana
Market Street Grille
Allstate Insurance – Lisa Wicka
Chester County Running Store
Specialty Resources
Salon 7
Mr. Gift Wrap
The Andrews and Beard Families
Widener Partnership Charter School Teachers
Grove Methodist Nursery School
HHS Kiddie Warriors Program
Fern Hill Elementary School
