Houston students spread joy to victims of Hawaii fires: How to help
HOUSTON - Local students are urging Houstonians to help children who are suffering after that fire destroyed their homes and schools in Maui.
Several of these teens founded their own toy drives years ago and are now expanding their tender loving care from Houston to Hawaii.
Students from Houston Christian High School and their parents are gathering and preparing new toys, clothing, and shoes to head to Hawaii.
"They may be sad. We hope to give them a little bit of hope and a little bit of joy," says Brandon Taher.
He and his mom, Heather, and dad, Dr. Shawn Taher, founded the non-profit "Toys Fore Kids" years ago to deliver toys to children in the hospital. It's very meaningful to their family.
"When you've lost everything, even the simplest thing means a lot! It's hard to describe and words can't describe it, it's overwhelming for a lot of people," explains Dr. Taher.
"Hope is probably what we aim for the most! To bring hope that not only inspires them, but to believe that they can do things and recover," states Brandon.
The Taher family's home flooded during Hurricane Harvey, and they lost everything, so they understand all too well what it's like after disaster hits and can relate to how the families feel in Hawaii.
"It was through generous donations that we were able to get through that. Of course, we're very grateful and having experienced that, we just want to be able to give back and help those who are in need right now," says Dr. Taher.
"Toys Fore Kids" is teaming up with "Lily's Toy Box". Lily DuBose founded this organization, after Hurricane Harvey, to bring joy to kids who lost their toys in floodwaters.
"During the hurricane, I saw kids leaving their homes and I knew that I could help in some way because my house wasn't flooded. So, I started giving away my own toys to people who were leaving their homes. Then, family and friends started helping out and then now I've given out over 70,000 toys," says Lily.
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Now she's ready to expand her outreach to Hawaii.
"When I saw it on the news, I knew I had to help in some way, so I asked my mom and I knew she'd say yes, but I didn't know how we were going to do it! We just started contacting people and emailing all the contacts, and it just worked out so well that we're able to send toys to Hawaii," says a smiling Lily.
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Mikayala Rovall is another student at Houston Christian High School, who is happy to help this important mission.
"It feels amazing because I do know that there's so many in need, and I'm so grateful for what I do have. So, it's great to be able to pass that forward to other people," explains Mikayala.
She's a busy senior who is so passionate about volunteering and helping others, that she makes it a priority to volunteer.
Here's how everyone in our community can help those hurting in Hawaii!
"You can go to our website, https://www.bodybalancehealth.net and click on "Foundation" to donate," explained Dr. Taher.
You can also go to www.lilystoybox.com
"You can donate money there or also donate from our Amazon wish list. We also have a great Instagram page and so, we're just looking for a lot of new toys that we can send! Convoy of Hope has offered to send the toys for us free of charge and so we're really excited about that," states Jessica DuBose, Lily's mother.
Convoy of Hope is based in St. Louis. "We put all this information out through social media, and we are so excited they reached out to us! They'll drive down to get the toys, free of charge, take them back to Missouri, and then fly them to Hawaii," explains Jessica.
Besides donating online, there's also a donation box at Learning Express at Town & Country for new toys. That address is: 12850 Memorial Dr, Houston, TX 77024.
"When you send something, you can reach out to us at really lilystoyboxytexas@gmail.com and we can send you a receipt for in-kind donations and/or monetary donations," explains Jessica.
For more information about how to help, please refer to links above.
For a look back at all the devastating damage from fires click here.