In the words of Charles & Donna Cooley, who started the Happy factory in Cedar City, Utah: "We didn't start out to be the Happy Factory; in fact we didn't start out to be anything." In, 1995, when they both retired, Charles renewed a long love of woodworking and started making wooden toys in his small home workshop and giving them to neighbor kids and his grandchildren. Soon, they had accumulated
enough of these toys that Charles and Donna gave them to the Primary Children's Hospital in Salt Lake City. The Hospital loved them and soon wanted more, and as the word spread to other organizations which worked with children the demand began to grow. What began as a hobby has turned into a full-time labor of love.
