Some of you ask why members of the Los Angeles Fire Department are so passionate - some say emotional, about our Spark of Love Toy Drive. Please wonder no more...
Toy Drives: It’s Not Too Late!
By Kevin Ott
blogging.la
Here’s my favorite personal Christmas story: One year when I was very young, I got a package of cheap off-brand glow-in-the-dark action figures. They had no faces and chintzy vinyl capes. For reasons I still can’t explain, I loved these guys — I played with them until their capes frayed and their joints (I think there was a grand total of, like, four on each figure) loosened.
Years later, when I was out of college, my single mom mentioned to me that her hardest Christmas was the one where she had just lost her job and was forced to go on welfare. She hadn’t been able to afford Christmas presents for me, so as soon as she got her first welfare check she went directly to the toy store and made the entire thing stretch as far as she could. That was the year she got me the glow-in-the-dark action figures. I don’t think she ever knew that I loved them so much.
So why am I telling you this? Because there are still plenty of kids out there whose parents can’t even afford the cheapest plastic aliens, and that’s where we come in. There are tons of toy drives and holiday charity events going on all around LA...
...Run by the LAFD, the Spark of Love toy drive collects new, unwrapped toys or sports equipment at every fire station in Los Angeles. Click here to find your local firehouse.
As your firefighters, we often see things we don't want to talk about. On other days, we experience things we just can't find the words for.
Thank you Kevin, for so eloquently expressing the value of this well-run program. Though largely staffed by off-duty firefighters and their families, it is powered by the generosity of people just like you.
For more information, please call the Spark of Love hotline...
Submitted by Brian Humphrey, Spokesman
Los Angeles Fire Department
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