One day after his birth in 2010, newborn Jasper Moorehead was flown from Batesville to Arkansas Children’s Hospital in Little Rock after one of his lungs collapsed. His grandmother, Donna Moorehead, a seventh-grade teacher at Pangburn Middle School, traveled to the hospital to be with her grandson as he was treated.
While there, Moorehead took note of the wish list for Festival of Stars, the hospital’s holiday toy drive for its patients, and considered starting a collection for the drive at the middle school.
“When you sit down there and you see all these kids, kids that have no family to see them, it’s just kind of heartbreaking,” Moorehead said of spending time at Children’s.
Moorehead started the yearly project at the school five years ago with sixth-grade teacher Karen Wynne.
“After we got involved with Children’s, we heard so many stories from our own students about how Children’s had helped them so much,” Wynne said.
Now, the toy drive has grown in the community, and there have been about $6,000 worth of toys donated to the middle school for Festival of the Stars this year. The elementary and high schools also collect toys for the drive, and local businesses and groups donated also.
“[Nathan Pruss] with Bruno’s Powersport [in Cabot] — he just kind of took it over down there to collect toys and get donations,” Moorehead said. “He was kind of our blessing in disguise there because when they delivered their toys, we had a big wooden sleigh that was made for it, and they completely filled it up.”
Moorehead said her granddaughter Mati Moorehead was born with cancer at Baptist Health in December 2015 and was immediately taken to Children’s Hospital for surgery.
“During that time again that we were down there, you see all the kids that didn’t have family, so for them, there was no Christmas, and I just couldn’t handle that,” she said. “I think every child should have a Christmas and have something for Christmas. I look at my family that is blessed that we are all together, and I see the kids that aren’t, and I want to give something to them.”
The middle school began collecting toys in the beginning of November for this year’s Festival of Stars. Moorehead and Karen Wynne deliver the toys to Children’s Hospital each year, but this year, Moorehead is not sure if they’ll fit in her van because there are so many. Donated toys include baby dolls, basketballs, art activities, stuffed animals and more.
Wynne said that many donated gifts are puzzles, coloring books and activities to keep children busy. The toy drive has replaced the school’s winter gift exchange among its students, Wynne said.
“It’s just been a joy every year,” Wynne said. “The kids have been giving. We never had a year when we didn’t get a full truckload.”
Moorehead said she tells her students about the importance of giving.
“They need to remember how blessed they are,” she said. “It’s easy to always expect, and I’m afraid kids expect more and more. It’s the feeling of knowing that you have helped someone else. They need to think about those who are not as lucky as they are and not as blessed, and they have been wonderful about it. We have a good group of kids.”
Wynne said the middle school makes a video of its gifts being delivered, and Children’s Hospital also makes a video of patients receiving gifts.
“We wanted our kids to relate to somebody their age spending their Christmas right here at the hospital, not knowing their fate,” Wynne said. “If there’s one small thing we could do, we wanted to do it.”
Moorehead said everyone should visit Children’s Hospital for a day to see how many children it helps.
“I had no idea how many children are sick until you see them coming in day after day after day,” Moorehead said. “I think everybody needs to go in and see just one day how many kids they help.”
Staff writer Syd Hayman can be reached at (501) 244-4307 or shayman@arkansasonline.com.