Utah's Tiny Tim's Foundation to build 1 millionth toy car for needy kids
(KUTV) - A group of generous grandpas are bringing joy to hundreds of thousands of children around the world.
Tiny Tim’s Foundation provides handmade clothes and other products to children in need, but they’re best known for their wooden toy cars.
"If you want people to like you, you have to do nice things!" founder Alton Thacker said. "If you have someone to love, something to do, and something to look forward to, you have all the ingredients to be happy."
Thacker named the foundation after a little boy he met who changed his life.
Timmy had Cerebral Palsy and was severely disabled from birth. He lived to be 17 and lived each day with joy.
"Timmy was so loveable,” Thacker said. "He taught me you need to do the things that make you loveable."
Another volunteer, Charlie Despain, described the joyful feeling of delivering toys to impoverished families in Central America.
"I would give them a toy and their faces would just light up. They had never had a toy, these people. I learned to say, 'Do you want a toy?' in Spanish. They didn't know the word toy,” he said. "It was just a fun experience to see humble, loving people."
The foundation has grown over the last 16 years to a group of about 30 volunteers who have made and delivered hundreds of thousands of toys to children around the world. This summer, they will make their 1 millionth toy car.
The group gained international fame on Facebook Watch’s program “Returning the Favor,” hosted by Dirty Job’s Mike Roe.
Tiny Tim’s Foundation is run completely on donations and volunteers. For more information, visit www.tinytimstoys.org.
