HARLINGEN — What do Buzz Lightyear, snarling dinosaurs and coloring books have in common?
They’re in the hands of children at Valley Baptist Medical Center, thanks to representatives of RGV’s Little Elves. The organization delivered about 50 toys Wednesday night to Valley Baptist in Harlingen.
“It’s hard enough being in the hospital during Christmas,” said Bethany Southard, board member of Little Elves.
“This gives them something to do in the hospital,” said Southard, who is also the chest pain coordinator for Valley Baptist.
“It’s been such a tough year with COVID and families struggling with losing their jobs,” she said. “It’s really important for our hospital to accept these toys to lift the spirits of the kids.”
The patients at Valley Baptist aren’t the only kids benefitting from the generosity of Little Elves.
“We decided that we were going to give some toys to try to help the RGV hospitals out,” Southard said. “So we all got together, we’ve done a bunch of toy drives, we’ve done some events. We’ve done a drive-by Christmas party. We work together and we give back to the families in the RGV.”
Volunteer Jo Ann Gutierrez reflected on the toy giveaways last year.
“We got to see the faces and the families that were so appreciative over at the Edinburg Children’s Hospital,” Gutierrez said. “After that it was such a blessing that we wanted to come out and do it again this year. It’s getting bigger and bigger and hopefully next year we can do a lot more.”
