After Toys Are Stolen From A Church Donation, Man Raises $45,000 To Replace Them

Dec 18, 2018

The Holiday season is a time of joy, happiness and giving. However, for some, it's a time of jealousy and greed. They think that taking is better than giving. Fortunately, there are generous souls out there working to counter this negative underside to Christmas.

Toy drives are quite common this time of year with many organizations working to provide gifts to needy families. Your work or church may participate in one of the common drives such as Angel Tree or Toys for Tots. You know how it works. You either select a child and fulfill the stated wishes. Or you buy toys and donate them to the organization who distributes them appropriately.

In many families, these donations represent the only gifts they will receive. When someone steals those donations, the children may not have any presents

The Greater Bridgeport Christian Fellowship Church was ready for their gift drive. They had storage units filled with presents to distribute. Then, greed struck.

Two greedy Grinches robbed their units for over $8000 of gifts. This left this the Bridgewater, CT, church with little to give. It's hard for kids with little to be told that they won't have any gifts to open.

The good news is, a generous soul decided to step in. Lucas Burnley saw the news story about the robbery and decided to play Santa. As a kid, he remembered receiving a toy from Toys for Tots a few times. It was time to pay it forward

Lucas drove up to the church with a rental van filled with toys. He had spent the past eight days shopping and had raised over $45000 to fund the holiday gift shopping.

With the van loaded up, he drove three hours to the church and made his delivery on December 12th.

Lucas had turned a tragic story into one that demonstrates the giving spirit that is integral to the Holiday season. He was able to give the church the opportunity to give over 6500 children two toys each. It's going to be a beautiful Christmas for many children

What do you think of Lucas' generosity? Does it reflect the Holiday Season? Let us know your thoughts. Give others the chance to enjoy this story, too, by passing it along to them!