GHHS MEChA Club steps up to help Toys for Tots

For several years, MEChA of Granite Hills High School has been assisting Grace Munoz Rios of Porterville’s Toys for Tots. This year was no exception.

The club collected an approximate 35 new toys for the program.

In addition, they also collected and raised $204.51 to help cover the shortage of toys, said club adviser Raul Bermudez.

On Dec. 10, 18 of them volunteered at the Toys for Tots program to help bag and organize the toys for local elementary school children.

“I’m very pleased with them. I didn’t think I’d have enough help and I was really worried that we might not have enough toys but it all worked out,” Munoz Rios said. “With their help, and with the toys brought in, they were able to fill [toy] bags with toys for five schools in the Porterville Unified School District, Alta Vista Elementary and a few other small schools.”

The students used copies of referrals taken from a master list to gather toys for each family, based on the age and sex of each child.

With all the help, and with less toys than other years, the task took one day instead of two, Munoz Rios said. However, she was thankful for a financial donation that enabled her to buy more toys on Sunday to help finish the rest of the schools.

“I’m glad I did it,” said GHHS senior Francisco Zarate. “I’m looking forward to doing it again. I’ve never done this before so it is a good thing I did it.”

Zarate said he enjoyed participating, helping children who were less fortunate than himself.
For senior Mariela Tapia, helping gave her a warm feeling.

“I was happy all day because I knew that I was going to make somebody else’s day,” Tapia said. “This is my second year doing it.”

GHHS senior Victor Espinoza, Porterville’s Male Youth of the Year, said the experience was rewarding for him.

“Everybody there was happy and eager to help,” Espinoza said. “I love the community that I live in and I want to make it the best that it can possibly be. Even a little bit of help can drastically impact the community.”

At the end of the day, Munoz Rios rewarded each student with mementos — pins, magnets and a commemorative “Toys for Tots, Porterville, CA” coin.

Contact Esther Avila at 784-5000, Ext. 1045, or eavila@portervillerecorder.com.