Three Hundred Forty Seven!

What started as Casey's dream, donating 100 toys to the hospital that has been his 2nd home, became a reality on Friday! Only the reality that we experienced was a million times better than any of us could ever imagine!

We sent out the toy drive announcement on November 19, 2010. Personally, I thought Casey's 100 toy goal was a bit of a stretch, but I was willing to help him in any way that I could! Over the next 4 weeks, Casey's Holiday Toy Drive turned into something bigger than we ever expected.

Casey was helped out by 2 middle school ASB classes (Redwood and Medea Creek). The Conejo Rec and Park District (including the Pre-K program at the Conejo Community Center) was a huge support for him, bringing in bags of toys every week! Some employees at the Las Virgenes Water District donated to Casey's cause. He also had TONS of friends and family donate as well. It seemed like everytime we thought, WOW this is CRAZY, it would get even crazier!!!

We eventually had to move the toys from our house to our travel trailer. It wasn't long before we realized that our deadline was apporaching.... and we had NO WAY of transporting all of these toys to the hospital, hahaha! That's when Michael Hawk (Casey's Papa) and the Reed Family (Brett's Boss) stepped in to help. On Friday, December 17, 2010 we loaded up 2 SUV's and a truck and drove down to the hospital. We unloaded and eventually made it upstairs to the pediatric floor.

The staff was literally speechless. Usually, they set all of the toys out to take a picture of the donation, but there were just too many toys! They told us that the toys will be used in a "toy store" where parents can go choose what ever they want for their kids- which is great because the LAST thing any parent has time to do is Christmas shopping when their child is hospitalized! We took pictures and after the hospital staff was done praising Casey, we left.
We took Casey to a special lunch and all he could talk about was doing the same thing next year!

So, before I post the pictures, I would like to thank you all again for all of your support. You've helped Casey acheive an amazing thing this year!!!

Brett- Elf

Papa and Casey- Elves

Ken Reed- Elf



Shelly Reed- Elf





Even Ryan was helping out!



 It took 3 loads like this to get everything upstairs!



                                               

Our crew and the Hopital staff!



                                                                



The hospital.



Casey with less than half of the toys!

Medea Creek Middle School's ASB donation

I would love to take a moment to share another amazing story with you. It all started when my mom Debbie sent out an email telling her co-workers about Casey's toy drive. Her co-worker Lisa Hughes took the email home probably like everyone else did. About a week later, my mom called me with some great news..... Lisa's son Griffin (an 8th Grader at Medea Creek Middle School) took Casey's toy drive to his ASB class!!! They decided to adopt Casey's toy drive and help Casey reach his goal! (I always think it's amazing to see young kids involved in charity work.)
Last night, they made a donation of over 40 toys! GREAT JOB MEDEA CREEK MIDDLE SCHOOL'S ASB CLASS- YOU ROCK!!!!

One Day Left!

I'm not really sure how to even begin this new post..... I thought that the toy donations would be winding down, but they aren't. I picked up another 15 toys from Becky Needham's class this afternoon, AND there were 7 toys dropped off at my parent's house (in Agoura). I am completely amazed that Casey's little toy drive became such a major event!

Our BIG DROP-OFF is tomorrow! We're estimating around 300 toys which is crazy because we thought that Casey's 100 toy goal was a stretch. Thank you all so much for all of your donations.

I would like to add some names to our loooooong list of givers.....
Jeff Helgager
Ken Reed
Mike McIntyre
Sandy Hernandez
Jessica Hilderman and Family
Joel Hawk and Kori Volkmann
The Phelps Family
Dave Currall

Our big event for this evening is a toy donation from Oak Park High School's ASB class!!!! I'll post pics on the blog as soon as I can.

Redwood Middle School's ASB Donation!

Last night I could hardly sleep. I was so excited to take Casey to pick-up his donation today! Of course, there is a little more to this story. So, here goes.....

Becky Needham and I have been friends for years (25 to be exact). We have stuck by each others sides through thick and thin. She was there just days after Casey was born and has watched me struggle with his medical condition for 7 1/2 years now. She has visited him in the hospital, often bringing toys and      balloons to cheer him up! Becky is "Auntie Becky" to all 3 of my kids and always will be.

This is the first year that Casey has really gotten into supporting "his" hospital whenever he can. Earlier this year, a group of friends and family (and most of Becky's ASB Class) joined "Team CASEY" at the UCLA Run/Walk     

benefitting Mattel's Children's Hospital at UCLA.

So naturally, when Becky and her class heard about Casey's toy drive, they were super excited to help out. I remember getting a text from Becky saying something like, you're going to need a BIGGER TRUCK!!! (and she was right!)

I couldn't wait to tell Casey that Becky's class was collecting toys and when I did, he "challenged them" to donated 32 toys. In return, he would throw them a pizza party!

Today was their pizza party! When we arrived, the kids were counting the toys and bagging everything up for us. As soon as everyone was seated, Becky (Mrs. Needham) started dismissing kids to get their pizza and drinks. We all had a great time. My kids were LOVING the attention from the big kids... and I'm pretty sure that the ASB kids were having a great time too! It wasn't until the pizza was gone and most of the kids had gone to lunch that I saw "132 TOYS!" written up on the white board. At that split second, I was completely overwhelmed. This group of kids is AWESOME!

 

I would like to give A BIG HUGE THANK YOU TO THE ASB CLASS AT REDWOOD MIDDLE SCHOOL! You all have done an amazing thing! 

   

Feeling the LOVE!

Hi Friends and Family!
Well, over the past few days, we have recieved at least 30 toys! The news about Casey's toy drive is spreading like wildfire, and the excitement is tangible!

Our "Thank You List" is also growing! I would like add another bunch-o-'givers' to the list.
So a BIG THANK YOU goes out to.....
Renate Jobestl and Family
The Bamerio Family
Alice Cantwell
Priscilla
The Burns Family
Austin Weaver, Tracy Gibbons (and family and friends)
Amy Rockenstein and Family and Friends
Nurse Marija (Casey's wonderful school nurse)

3 days until delivery day! Tomorrow, Casey and I are picking up toys from the amazing ASB class at Redwood Middle School! I can't wait to share this story with you all, so stay tuned!

Thanks Again for all of the LOVE!

Pictures AND a Toy Count!

 Good evening everyone,
Today is such an exciting blog! I have finally counted the toys AND taken pictures of the mighty toy pile!

These are pictures (below) that I took today while I was dropping off another load of toys (and as a side note, I got a call on the way there that we have ANOTHER WHOLE BAG to pick-up from the Conejo Community Center in Thousand Oaks!!!!). We are keeping the toys in our toyhauler- heehee- the area of toys is 8 1/2 feet wide and 6 feet long!

I would also like to add the Hutchison Family and Darcie Abrams to the long list of thank you's! You're contributions are greatly appreciated!

Before I give you the BIG TOY COUNT, I want to quickly mention Becky Needham and her ASB class at Redwood Middle School in Thousand Oaks. At the beginning of the toy drive, Casey "challenged" her class to raise 32 toys. In return, he would throw them a pizza party! Needless to say, our pizza party is scheduled for next Wednesday as they have collected 60 toys AND COUNTING!!!!! I will post pics from the pizza party along with the full story about this class and these great kids next week on the blog!

My final addition to the blog tonight is the toy count... drumroll please......................

We are so proud to announce that you all have helped Casey surpass his 100 toy goal! We have collected 110 toys and the great thing is that we still have 8 days to collect! We also have about 50 stocking stuffers!  



More Great News!

Hi Friends,
   This morning on the way to school, Casey said, "Man, I can't believe that we drop off the toys next week! That went by so fast....."
   I said, "Yeah it did, isn't that exciting?!?!"
Casey thought for a minute and replied, "It's kind of sad too because we won't be collecting toys for kids anymore."
    My cup runeth over. My son, is continuing to amaze me with his kind heart everyday! So, as we continue with the toy drive, Casey is going to meet with some hospital staff to see what he can help with next! We'll update the blog with that info as it comes.

A few more thank you's include...
The Waters Family
Paula Marrs (Casey's kindergarten  teacher)
Jack McPhearson and family
Travis Garman and family
Frank Almaguer

I know that a few people have been requesting a toy count.... I promise to get on that as soon as I can. I will say that I'm pretty confident that Casey has met his 100 gift goal!!!!!

Have a wonderful day!

A bunch of Thank You's!

I am going to try to thank everyone that has donated toys BY NAME, so here it goes...

Mike and Debbie Hawk
Georgette' Arnie and Katie Kallberg
Eric and JoAnn Vollmar
Meskis Family
Sanaz Vasseghi and Family
Allie Miller and Family
Zacha Family
Aunt Cheri
Laurie Reyen and Family
Joan Gordon
Budzin Family

Cotty, Laurie, and Laurie- Pre-K program at the Conejo Community Center
CRPD
GAP Kids/Baby GAP in Thousand Oaks

***If you know of someone who has donated but is not listed here, please leave a comment on the blog and I will make the appropriate additions!

Thank You all sincerely. If you see your name on here, please leave a comment or a simple "WOOT WOOT". Casey loves looking to see if anyone has commented.

x's and o's

Hi All.

A few things before I begin.....
Eventough this is Casey's toy drive, I (Casey's mom), will be 'blogging' about his toy drive for the next 11 days. I know that it seems late in the game to be starting a blog, but Brett and I thoought that this would be the easiest way to send out updates, and thank you's.

What started out as Casey's dream has now grown into a toy drive that is bigger than we could imagine. We have a high school AND a middle school collecting toys! Casey's pre-K class is rallying in a HUGE way to help him acheive his goal. And we have had countless individuals dropping toys by almost everyday! We are beginning to realize that Casey's Holiday toy drive will be around for years to come :)


TO THE DONATORS...
First of all, I would like to thank each and every one of you! We were given a moment to assess the donations this past weekend and were completely overwhelmed- in a good way :) I sat in our travel trailer, which is serving as our storage area, and was brought to the verge of tears..... and as I sat there, my cell phone was alerting me of even MORE donations! Stay tuned for more updates......

xoxo,
Rachel (on behalf of Casey)