DAYTON — On Friday, Dec. 1, Children’s Hospital in Dayton recieved roughly $5,000 worth of toys thanks to Bruce Elementary Student Ty Fugate. Fueled by his own experience at the hospital, Ty Fugate worked with his mother, Amy Fugate, to gather donations from all over the community.
He wanted to spread holiday spirit to those children stuck in the hospital during the most wonderful time of the year.
This is the third year that the Fugate family has been donating toys to Dayton Children’s Hospital. The toy drive is extremely personal for the family of four, as years ago, Ty Fugate had a high fever and had to spend time in the emergency room during Christmastime.
The toy he received sparked his imagination and he came up with Ty’s Christmas Wish years later.
He decided he wanted to donate a box truck full of toys for children who were unfortunate enough to be in the hospital for Christmas. When asked why he wanted to donate toys, he said it was how his parent’s raised him and that he wanted to help people, just like he had been helped.
“We are donating a truck full of toys to Dayton Children’s Hospital. We collected donations from small and big businesses and from all over Preble, Montgomery, and Butler County,” Amy Fugate said. “We’re donating $5,000 to $6,000 worth of toys today.
“It was a little easier to gather donations this year. Many people knew that we were doing this, so they contacted me and then it was just running around to collect the items. We had a lot of positive responses last year. Everyone wanted us to keep doing this for years to come.”
For Ty Fugate, that is the plan. He wants to continue doing this toy drive every year. When asked why, he replied, “I just really wanted these kids to have fun on Christmas day.”
He plans on making next year even bigger and better.
“He loves doing this,” his mother added. “Even buying the toys he loves, because we get money donations, as well as toy donations, and have to purchase toys for the drive. Sometimes we try to shop locally, while other times we go to Dayton for sales. We look for the most bang for the buck.”
The family will take a few months off to rest and recuperate, but they will be back to seeking donations come summertime.
