“Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will reward them for what they have done.”  Proverbs 19:17

Three of Andrew’s friends from Henderson High School, Dave McCarthy, Brian Whitehead and Kevin Howe, created a Toy Drive in early December and collected over 600 new toys for children in Chester, PA.  The young men, along with Andrew’s brother Kyle, Kevin’s brother, Ryan, Andrew’s sisters, Amelia and Kelly, and his mom, Karen, drove the toys down to the Frederick Douglass Christian School, unpacked them, priced them and set them up for display.

On December 18th they, along with other Foundation volunteers, joined World Impact in opening up the Christmas Toy Store in the cafeteria of the school.  Gifts were priced at only 10% of their market value.  Over 100 Chester residents came by and were able to spend $10 on each of their registered children.  The money collected will be kept in a savings account for next year’s Toy Store.  A small portion of those funds will be used for advertising for the event and then most of it will be used to purchase any gifts that might be lacking in certain areas.

Many of the Chester parents expressed such gratitude to our volunteers.  They were thankful that they were able to purchase beautiful presents for their children at such great prices and they appreciated the care and attention that we showed to them.  Everyone was treated with kindness and respect and the Toy Store was a huge success.  Kevin, Brian and Dave did a fantastic job, and although other organizations did help World Impact, the event could not have happened at all without the contributions of the Andrew L. Hicks, Jr. Foundation, led by these three seniors.  We thank the West Chester area community for their generosity!

Special thanks also goes to Rebecca Meehan, of East Windsor, NJ.  Becca decided to make a Christmas stocking for each student at the Frederick Douglass Christian School.  She personalized each of the 60 stockings by putting their name on their stocking and filled each one by hand with toys, games, and candy.  She and her parents, Rob and Stacy, drove the stockings down on December 18th and then stayed to help with the Toy Store!  Way to go, Becca!