Conshohocken Family Delivers Truckloads Of Toys To 3 Children's Hospitals In Philadelphia
Follow CBSPHILLY Facebook Twitter
MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Pa. (CBS) – A Conshohocken family is spreading Christmas cheer in a special way. The DePaul brothers hosted their second annual DePaul Brother Toy Drive Saturday and to say it was a success is an understatement.
Four truckloads of toys were delivered to patients at Shriners Hospital for Children, St. Christopher's Hospital for Children and Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.
The brothers started donating toys for the children instead of buying each other gifts during the holidays.
"We have what we need. Instead of giving each other presents, we buy presents for the kids," said 22-year-old Gino DePaul of DePaul Brothers Concrete.
The brothers received donations from friends, family, and people they do business with.
"It's a great feeling, actually, delivering toys to the kids at the hospitals [rather] than just dropping something off in a donation box and never actually seeing the impact that you actually make on one kid's life," said Ben O'Connor. "Everybody involved in the toy drive saw that first hand at Shriners."
DePaul says seeing the looks on the kids' faces when they see the toys is what it's all about.
"I wanted to break down and cry seeing some of the kids," he said. "You don't realize how good you have it until you see them."
A 15-year-old girl from Michigan chose a stuffed animal from the toy drive and her mother reached out to DePaul to let him know how awesome what his family and friends are doing.
"My daughter woke up to the sounds of fire trucks and Santa outside her window," read a text message DePaul posted to Facebook from Amy Conley. "She had a very bad night with nausea and pain the night before. The stuffed bear she received turned it around."
The DePaul brothers hosted their first toy drive in 2017 and Gino DePaul says each year they get together and write out thank you cards for the donations and talk about what they can do better for next year.
He hopes in 2019 they will meet their toy goal.
"Definitely want to get the goal of six trucks," said DePaul.
It's not too late to help children in need through CBS3's Joy of Sharing ToyFest. CLICK HERE to learn more.
