How a Collierville man's toy drive is putting smiles on faces of Le Bonheur patients

In October 2018, Shaun Smith was dealing with some difficult times in his life.

The loss of his father, who died in December 2016, was still fresh in the Collierville resident's mind. On top of that, Smith was dealing with the trials and tribulations of parenting twins going through their terrible twos stage. His children were born in September 2016, just months before the passing of his father, so they didn't get a chance to really know their grandfather.

Smith said during that time a fellow dad with twins reached out to him through social media and pitched an idea to do a toy drive for the holidays. He was going through some personal struggles too and wanted to give back to the community in some way.

Smith felt doing something to help children less fortunate could help uplift his spirits.

"I was just looking for something that could provide some more positive energy in my life," said Smith, a financial specialist at Pinnacle Financial Partners in Germantown. "With us being fathers with multiple kids, we thought why not make a difference in other kids' lives because no matter the things we were going through that we were still blessed and our kids aren't going through hardships that other children in the area are experiencing."

That was the beginning of the Little Wheels Big Hearts of Tennessee toy drive, which Smith continues to lead.

Why Little Wheels Big Hearts was started

The toy drive was started in October 2018 to collect and donate toys to underprivileged and underserved children in the area.

At the start, Smith said Little Wheels Big Hearts was strictly a way to do a toy drive focusing on new toys with wheels for Toys for Tots. Little Wheels Big Hearts started with just Hot Wheels and Matchbox cars because they were iconic brands and easy to find in stores, according to Smith.

"A kid can kind of do anything with with a toy car and truck and play with it anywhere," he said.

Smith said Little Wheels Big Hearts collected 1,400 new toys with wheels during its first year in 2018. That number increased to 2,576 toys in 2019 and 3,028 in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We got bigger every year, and we were only using Instagram and Twitter to spread the word,” Smith said.

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Going in a different direction to help kids at Le Bonheur

Little Wheels Big Hearts was forced to take a different route in 2021. After the local Toys for Tots lost its warehouse space in Memphis, Smith, who had taken full control of the initiative, still wanted to collect and donate toys for an organization in the area.

Through his connections from his colleagues with Pinnacle, Smith got linked up with Michelle Rogers, director of development at Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital. The conversation led to Smith pivoting and doing the Little Wheels Big Hearts toy drive for Le Bonheur’s toy room called Bunny Lane. The space is where new patients go to pick out new toys to keep and play with during the time they’re being treated at the hospital.

According to Le Bonheur’s website, more than 14,000 children visit Bunny Lane each year before they go to one of the hospital’s 17 operating rooms. It has been a tradition since Le Bonheur opened in Memphis in 1952. The toy selected by each child is there with them when they awake from surgery.

Smith said it was refreshing to hear stories of people who have donated and supported Little Wheels Big Hearts were also patients as children at Le Bonheur. Their fondest memories were the Bunny Lane toy run.

“When I hear that, I know that I’m on to something, and that this is a legit good cause,” Smith said. “It’s great to know that kid has that experience of picking out and owning that toy. It gives them a positive experience before heading to surgery, so it takes their mind off thinking about surgery.

"Hearing the testimonies from people who have been through it really drove home that I got to keep doing it. I want to do it to the best of my abilities to make sure we can get all their toys.”

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Last year, Little Wheels Big Hearts collected more than 4,200 new toys with wheels for Bunny Lane, Smith said. It was the toy drive’s highest total since it started five years ago. Sarah Burnett, director of community and public relations for Le Bonheur Children's Hospital, said toy drives like the one Smith is leading show how people in the area help the hospital's cause.

"We could not do what we do without community support," Burnett said. "We have donors that are so generous with their funds and their time and their talents. To me that is the mark of why our community is so special, that folks like Shaun that want to give back and that is important to us. It means a lot to everybody on the staff at Le Bonheur."

Smith’s goal for this year’s toy drive, which kicked off Nov. 8 and goes through Dec. 18, is to hit or exceed last year's total.

He said Little Wheels Big Hearts has collected almost 800 toys and he feels strongly that more than 4,000 toys will be donated for the cause. He said local organizations such as the Overton Park Shell have joined this year to help promote Little Wheels Big Hearts on social media channels as well as collect and donate toys for the drive. In addition to toys with wheels, other toys such as Barbie dolls, Transformers, action figures and Legos have been collected for the children.

“They obviously need more than little toy cars,” Smith said. “I’m really pushing trying to get more toys like Legos, which allows them to be more interactive. It gives them something to do over a period of time, while they are sitting in recovery.”

Looking at going nonprofit

Smith aspires to expand Little Wheels Big Hearts into a 501(c)(3) nonprofit in the future, but knows there is a lot of work to do before crossing that threshold. Nonetheless, he just wants to continue bringing joy to those children suffering at Le Bonheur.

“That’s down the road, especially if we get bigger and we’re going to need more volunteers,” Smith said, referring to forming a nonprofit. “My job as a community banker is something that I’m always going to do. But as far as doing a nonprofit, it is something that I’m contemplating and something I thought about last year. ... I’m not ready to take that step yet, but it’s in the back of my mind. I’m passionate about this and our mission will continue to be bringing smiles to kids one wheel toy at a time.”

Corey Davis is the Collierville and Germantown reporter with The Commercial Appeal. He can be reached at Corey.Davis@commercialappeal.com or 901-293-1610.

Little Wheels Big Hearts

To donate toys to Little Wheels Big Hearts, dropboxes are set up at at all seven of Pinnacle's Memphis-area locations. For more information, visit littlewheelsbigheartstn.com

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Little Wheels Big Hearts: What to know about toy drive for Le Bonheur