East Cobb kids collect Christmas toys for other children

<p>Many charitable groups purchase Christmas toys for underprivileged children during the holidays, but three east Cobb County girls thought the gifts would mean more if they were obtained by other kids than from adults.</p><p>Twelve-year-old Laney Estroff, her 9-year-old sister Hallie and her friend, 11-year-old Stephanie Falcon, sold baked goods and lemonade last summer to have enough money to buy almost 100 gifts that they gave to the U.S. Marine Corps Toys for Tots program. Since its founding in 1991, the Toys for Tots program has collected more than 40 million toys for needy children.</p><p>We decided it would be more fun and the kids would be happier to get toys that other kids picked out for them, Laney said. Some people passing by didnt even want anything. They just gave us money because they knew it was going to charity.</p><p>The girls, who became interested in raising the money after reading a magazine story, raised $72 last July with their bake sale and lemonade stand.</p><p>But finding the right cause for the money was more of a challenge, as the girls held onto their collections for six months before choosing Toys for Tots.</p><p>Instead of just handing over the money, they did the holiday shopping themselves at an east Cobb Dollar Wise store last Sunday.</p><p>They decided that if they went to the dollar store, they could give gifts to 72 children rather than going to another store and only getting presents for 10, said Lori Estroff, the mother of Laney and Hallie.</p><p>And when they started to load their shopping carts with Play-Doh, crayons, dolls and toy cars, other shoppers in the store began to take notice. Strangers started handing them money, and others went to their cars to gather items to donate.</p><p>The girls collection soon grew to $90 worth of toys for the program.</p><p>The store became like a community, coming together for this common cause, Lori Estroff said.</p>

http://accesswdun.com/article/2003/12/180615