Christmas Toy Dream Team Distributes Over 200,000 New Toys for Christmas
The Reno Rodeo Foundation received thousands of new toys in time for the Christmas holiday. The new toys were received through a formal partnership between the Reno Rodeo Foundation and K.I.D.S./Fashion Delivers, a national non-profit based out of New York and was the largest delivery of toys received to date.
Imagine getting a call letting you know the shipment contains at least 24 eight foot pallets of new toys donated from Mattel Corporation. And…to ensure receipt the immediate response required was either Yes or No in order to secure the delivery. Easy answer right? You bet. Without the blink of an eye the answer was Yes!
None of this would have been possible without the generosity of Dennis & Susan Banks from Dennis Banks Construction and Tim & Vicki Puliz and Ronda Gentry from Puliz Moving and Storage. Dennis donated the storage space and Tim transported the toys to Reno and delivered them to the rural areas. This was the first time toys have been sent to the rural foster kids. Special thanks to the team at the Reno Sparks Livestock Events Center for use of the Exhibit Hall and their hospitality. We couldn’t have asked for a more perfect location.
There were so many wonderful people who made up the Reno Rodeo Foundation Christmas Toy Dream Team. This included the hard-working Reno Rodeo Team 355 volunteers, led by Chairman Dan Bybee. They all worked tirelessly for three long days to sort, organize and distribute the thousands of toys. Thanks to Larry Stock, owner of Polymer Plastics Company in Carson City, who not only spent hours with his employees unloading toys but spent three days dressing up as Santa for the kids.
Foster families that support the children we serve throughout the 14 northern Nevada counties were given first priority. A major tenant in foster care is to have the foster kids be part of the family alongside their own children, giving a sense of oneness. As a result, for the first-time, the entire foster family’s children, regardless of their biological status, received toys. What appeared as a simple gesture tugged deep into the giving of the holiday spirit with parents, agency staff and volunteers sharing how much this meant to the children and how grateful everyone was for the kindness expressed to all.
With so many toys it was only fitting to reach out to families served by the Children’s Cabinet, the Boys and Girls Club of Truckee Meadows and the Washoe County Sheriff’s Department who serve the homeless children, to provide children in need with the same opportunity. We are so proud to share that our community effort resulted in over 3,000 children in need receiving new toys.
