Avon High Toy Drive Bringing Cheer to Children in Need

‘Tis better to give than to receive, and the National Honor Society is doing a whole lot of giving this Christmas.

The organization’s annual toy drive collected more than 1,000 toys and $700 over a two-week period to donate to the and Community Resource Services.

Two seniors, Allyson Barley and Emmary Sharer, played a major role in the program’s success, and upping the ante from last year's drive, which brought in about 250 toys.

“We noticed it’s never really been advertised before,” Sharer said. “So we went all-out, and made, like, 300 posters and put them in all the teachers’ mailboxes.”

Barley said the group also put notes on every other locker in the school, and it worked.

“I came into the room where we keep the toys, and there were so many in here I almost cried,” she said.

Sharer said local businesses pitched in, too, like Panera offering 40 bagels to the homeroom who brings in the most toys, and several prizes were donated to be raffled.

“We realized kids need a little more incentive to give than just to do good,” Sharer said.

Barley has interned at Cleveland Clinic and volunteered at St. John Medical Center, and Sharer has worked with special needs children in the past.

All of the money raised will be used to purchase more toys.

“It’s nice to see that people know other kids’ Christmases aren’t as nice as ours are,” Sharer said.