This organization was started in 2009 one year ago after Ronald “Lucky” Bottema, Jr. Lucky was a kid at heart and felt that every kid deserves to feel the spirit of Christmas with a new toy. Our organization’s goal is to assist families that are struggling in providing Christmas when they might not otherwise have it. We have worked for the Hillsboro School District where I have been at North Plains Elementary School for the past 30 years. As a staff we would select 5 families and provide both food and gifts. The year after Lucky passed away, which was 3 days before Christmas, we were looking for a way to honor him. We decided to do a toy drive on Facebook and see if we could get 50 toys donated, because he would have been 50 that year. We were able to collected 65 toys and decided if we put a little more effort into this we could really make a difference for families that are struggling to brighten their lives at Christmas. The following year we became a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization with tax-exempt status.
