Our Annual Toy Drive is back this year as we hope to make this holiday special for military children. Every child deserves a merry Christmas so we’re looking forward to help donating toys and gifts for “our youngest heroes”. We are collecting new unwrapped toys for ages 1 and up as well as gift cards, which are great for older children. Come in today and share your love to the children in need this holiday season with us.
We will be collecting until the 14th. Thank you for your support!
This is their story…
Military Children’s Charity, Inc. was founded by Isaiah Navarro when he was a 14-year old student at Mater Dei (Catholic) High School. During the fall of 2009, Isaiah chose to collect toys for his school service project in order to donate them to a non-profit. The charity gifted toys to the children of deployed American service members only during the holiday season. Isaiah’s father, at the time, had been a United States Marine for over eighteen years and was stationed overseas again–his time for his entire freshman year. (Isaiah’s father has since retired from the U.S. Marine Corps and works for the U.S. Federal government).
Isaiah’s pastor agreed to allow him to speak in front of thousands of parishioners and tell his story. Isaiah shared how challenging life is for the children of American service members, like himself. Not only the extended absences from one of their parents, but the constant concern that their parent may never return home. Isaiah’s speech was greeted with an outpouring of support; a few members of the parish approached Isaiah moved to tears. Isaiah and his mother, Cherie realized that not only did their community care deeply about the cause of military children; but by Isaiah sharing his personal story, it brought his reality into a clearer understanding for his fellow Americans.
