Douglas County man collects toys for Christmas in honor of late son who died in Colorado
"He was a kid that had boundless joy, boundless energy," said Donny McCleery.
It's been nearly 10 years since Donny McCleery lost his six-year-old son Trey.
"On June 14 of 2014 he actually passed away in a car accident in front of our house," McCleery said.
He says a tragic mechanical failure caused their car to start rolling and run over Trey in their driveway. As he and his wife grieved the unimaginable, they realized Trey had a habit of giving away his toys.
"Little did we know when we had his service all of his friends actually came with all of the toys he had given his friends for sleepovers over the years," said McCleery.
When Christmas came around, McCleery decided to carry on that legacy.
"Trey loved giving his toys away and all that stuff so why don't we start doing a toy drive?" said McCleery.
The McCleerys started a foundation in Trey's honor called "Play for Trey" that aims to enrich the lives of people in their community. The Trey McCleery Foundation Holiday Toy Drive is now in its 10th year. So far, they've given away about 15,000 toys.
This year, they'll go to a program aimed at supporting teen parents.
"Along with trying to be the best parents that they can be and going to school navigating relationships being young people, there was a financial struggle that a lot fo them had," said Cherelle Cowan, Director of Community Ministries for Denver Area Youth For Christ.
Now, those parents won't have to worry about affording presents, and their children will have new toys to open on Christmas, thanks to Trey's memory.
"The joy that my son got from giving to his friends and stuff, other people can still have that joy and carry along his heart with them as they give to us and we give out those gifts to the people that need them," said McCleery.
The toy drive happens in a single day, Wednesday, Dec. 6. New, unwrapped toys can be dropped off at the Daniel's Gate clubhouse in Castle Pines between 5 p.m. and 7:42 pm. Then on Saturday, the teen parents will get to shop through the toys and pick out the presents for their kids.
