My daughter Casey is a 7-year-old second grader. She has a nice life—takes piano and ballet, goes on a ton o’ play-dates, never has to worry about not having food on the table or goodies on her birthday. She’s a great kid, and I’m extremely proud of her. Extremely.
Last holiday season, we decided that it’d be great for Casey to have a toy drive to provide gifts for kids in Westchester County, N.Y. who might not have presents for the holiday (For those here thinking, “Isn’t Westchester a pretty well-off place to live?” let me assure you there are many downtrodden among us.). After initial trepidation, Casey got into the whole process, and we wound up donating a whopping 135 toys to Blythedale Children’s Hospital in Valhalla, N.Y. She learned some incredible lessons about how the world works; the misfortune of so many others; the power of giving. It was a phenomenal experience.
Now Casey is back, and so is her toy drive. Hence, this message. As I stated earlier, last year we donated 135 gifts. My goal is to beat that—for no other reason than (A) More toys=more happy kids; (B) Goals are fun.
Above is Casey’s hand-written letter. Anyone here who donates an unwrapped gift to the cause will received an autographed copy of one of my books, which I’ll send to you (or a designated recipient) ASAP.
Contact me at anngold22@gmail.com if you’re interested …
On behalf of Casey, much thanks,
Jeff
PS: Here is the note my wife sent out:
