By Gabriella Bancheri
This year the Wyatt Toy Drive, organized to commemorate the loss of Wyatt Hopkins, held an event to raise the hundreds of toys they collect annually for children in need.
Six years ago, after the loss of an infectiously loving boy, collections of toy donations began from the heart and grew from there. The family started by collecting and bringing toys to children’s hospitals because they wanted to spread positivity within the community after their loss.
Rob and Desiree credit their son Wyatt completely for the work they do, saying that they began these donations to share the love their son had in his heart and to keep his memory alive.
After being in the hospital for a week, the thing that brought Wyatt the most joy and comfort was the toy room. Wyatt’s parents said their son never asked for anything, but he started to develop a strong interest in the toys. They began to collect them for other children in his honor.
It started with people painting bins and leaving them in their businesses from South Jersey to Philadelphia. In the first year, they collected over a thousand toys. Every year after that, the total ranged from one thousand to four thousand.
The numbers became too overwhelming for one family to keep up with. So this year, the Hopkins family held one event at Caroline’s by the Bay to which everyone could bring a toy. There were auctions in addition to the toy collection. While the event only lasted three hours, they still collected hundreds of toys.
With help and trailer donations from Offshore Trailers in Marmora, the Hopkins family delivers the toys themselves.
Every year, collections begin during Wyatt’s birthday in the first week of November and carry on throughout the last two months of the year.
When collections are complete, the family donates the toys to places across South Jersey and beyond. These recipients include several children’s hospitals like St Jude’s and Shore Medical Center, local families through the police department and school district, and CASA, a South Jersey foster program.
Gabriella is a Ventnor City resident and graduate of the University of London with an MA in Creative Writing and Publishing. Her writing is featured in a variety of digital publications ranging from food and beverage to literature to ecotourism.
