High School Student Has Donated 50K Toys to Kids in Texas Hospital: It's a 'Big Deal to Them’
A 15-year-old Texas boy is certainly cementing his spot on the nice list this holiday season.
Micah Pinson is gearing up for his annual toy drive this year to benefit a local hospital, where he’s so far donated 50,000 toys over the years.
“It’s a great satisfaction to just see the kids’ faces,” Micah told KXAS. “You kind of just see them light up as soon as they get it.”
Micah, a 10th-grader at Corinth Classical Academy in Corinth, has been donating toys to the Texas Scottish Rite Hospital since he was 6 years old, bringing in about 2,000 toys that year in an operation that has since widely expanded.
A spokeswoman for the hospital confirms to PEOPLE he’s collected 50,000 toys for its patients over the past eight years.
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“My parents taught me at a young age, and I really hope other kids find the will to give back,” he told KXAS.
The initiative is personal for Micah, who said the hospital helped him out as a child after he was born with webbing in between two of his fingers.
“I could not move my hands much,” he said. “And what the hospital did is they just cut it out, and I had more flexibility in my hands.”
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This holiday season, Micah hopes to focus donations on teenagers, as he says they often get “forgotten” during toy drives.
“Maybe some have had a rough day and they see this toy laying there for them — it means a big deal to them,” he told KXAS.
Recent posts on Micah’s toy drive Facebook page indicate he’s recently received donations from several local businesses, as well as the Corinth Police Department.
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His efforts in years past have also been featured in the news, like in 2017, when he had donated 12,000 toys, according to KDFW.
Micah’s toy drive reportedly kicks off Monday, and will go through Dec. 20, with boxes set up locally. The hospital’s patient wish list for 2019 can be found here.
