ANAHEIM, Calif. –The Cal State Fullerton Athletics community did their part Friday afternoon and helped set a new record for the Spark of Love Toy Drive from ABC7 and Southern California Firefighters.
The Titans Spirit Squad along with Corey Walker and Temjae Singleton of the men’s basketball team were on hand at the “Stuff-A-Bus” event held at the Honda Center on Friday and helped set a new record, packing 27 buses full of toys. Members of the Fullerton athletics program along with Titans fans that participated in the event donated more than 100 toys alone.
For their support, the first 100 Titans fans that made donations at the event were given vouchers good for two tickets to a Titans home game.
Along with members of the Cal State Fullerton athletics community, UC Irvine and the Big West Conference were also on hand for the Orange County event. Last year, the Orange County Stuff-A-Bus event at Honda Center packed 18 buses with toys.
As part of the Spark of Love Toy Drive, four “Stuff-A-Bus” events were scheduled with ABC7 reporter Garth Kemp on hand at each event to help collect the new, unwrapped toys. The Honda Center event was the fourth and last “Stuff-A-Bus” stop of the campaign.
Cal State Fullerton has teamed up with the KIND Movement, an initiative committed to social entrepreneurship with the intention to surprise others with unexpected acts of kindness. The movement is based on the acts of holistic kindness, with the foundational belief that there's more to business than just profit.
The Spark of Love Toy Drive is celebrating its 21st year in 2014 and has collected more than 7.5 million toys for underserved children and teens over two decades. It takes place in November and December every year with local fire stations serving as drop-off points. Firefighters from Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and Ventura counties along with Los Angeles City firefighters collect the gifts and distribute them to underserved children in our local communities.
The "Spark of Love Toy Drive Fund" was created in 2004 at the California Community Foundation to provide toys or sports equipment for underserved children during the holiday season in Southern California. For those still interested in making a donation to the fund, click here.