$15,000 worth of toys for kids at Lurie Children's Hospital collected at party, delivered
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A party celebrating Greek heritage was held in the West Loop last week—and all guests had to do to get in was bring a toy for a child in the hospital.
Those toys arrived at the hospital on Thursday, and the parents of those children were more than pleased to get help in their time of need.
A rental van arrived Thursday at Lurie Children's Hospital, with so many bags and boxes filled with toys that they were spilling out. The van was unloaded for the young patients at the hospital afterward.
The toys were collected at The Bandit, at 841 W. Randolph St., this past Friday.
"I feel so great just knowing that some of these children here will have a better holiday because of a small part of what we did," said Nick Pantazis of Barraki Events.
Greek-owned Barraki Events hosted the toy donation drive with fellow Greek Yanni Dimoulis, founder of the media company 54thirty. The entry fee was an unwrapped new toy for a child at Lurie.
The end result was about $15,000 in new toys from the nearly 350 people who attended.
"We got everything from beanies, socks to Nintendo Switches and a little piano," said Dimoulis.
Dimoulis knows what it's like to be a patient at Lurie. He was diagnosed with ALL leukemia when he was 9, and went into remission at the age of 12.
Dimoulis is now 35, and credits the doctors and nurses at what was then Children's Memorial Hospital at its old location in Lincoln Park for his lifesaving care.
"I remember spending holidays here, and a little pleasure of just a new toy to take your mind off it for even an hour can change the whole world for you—for all the kids in here," he said.
The donated toys will eventually be part of the Lurie Winter Wonderland Event.
"To be able to bring these things in from so many generous community partnerships that we have, it's just extremely—it's a joy to see," said Samantha Puckett of Lurie Children's Hospital.
Parents shop free for their children receiving care at Lurie. Ashlee and Marty Potter are the parents of 6-month-old Luna, who was born with a congenital heart defect and has been at the hospital since.
"We got a wagon to wheel her out of here with," said Marty Potter.
"Her nursery is sea life, so we got a puzzle that we can put together to put on her wall," said Ashlee Potter.
Luna has had three open heart surgeries. Her most recent surgery was a heart transplant, last month.
"Going through something like this, you realize how many good people there actually are in the world," said Ashlee Potter. "Like being on the outside, you see all the bad things that happen in the world, and all the hate—and being here, it's like wow! People actually care."
It takes six months for the toy drive organizers to plan their event. They say knowing that their toys are going to a room at the hospital to be given out makes all of that work worth it.
With giving back to children like Luna in mind, Dimouolis has a big goal for 2025.
"Next year, I want to come with two trucks," he said.
