While the “Toy Story” movie is filled with slapstick adventure, one Scottsdale teenager’s real-life toy story is deeply emotional, underscoring a biblical message.
Not only is it better to give than receive – it’s way more fun, Isabella Bascon-Castillo will tell you.
Many parents feel like they’re going crazy this time of year, figuring out what perfect presents to get for their kids.
Then there are those – as Isabella’s mother knows – who feel immense angst and pressure, feeling their deserving children will be devastated by getting … nothing.
As a new immigrant from Venezuela, single mother Maria Teresa Castillo worked everywhere she could find just to pay rent and put food on the table for her two young children.
“I remember seeing her come home from work so tired,” Isabella Bascon-Castillo emotionally recalled of her mother. “Or I wouldn’t even see her when she got home; I’d already be in bed.”
As their first Christmas in the U.S. approached, the family expected little.
“My mom worked three different jobs – and they didn’t pay near enough to get gifts for me and my brother,” Isabella said.
Then, a nonprofit organization – this was in Utah, and Isabella doesn’t recall the name of it – matched them with a family that wanted to help those needing a little holiday help.
“I remember the family walking in with the toys – and seeing my mom so happy,” Isabella said, getting choked up. “I saw her every single night getting more and more stressful – and then seeing her with a big smile. It made me really glad.”
The giving family handed over the presents, with Isabella shrieking with glee as she unwrapped a fancy Barbie doll with purple heels. “I remember thinking, ‘I need to get these heels when I’m older.’”
Now 17, Isabella has several pairs of purple-heeled shoes.
And she’s helping overwhelmed parents get dolls, toy cars, clothes and other presents.
Isabella lives with her family in Scottsdale and attends Arcadia High School. When a counselor told her about the East Valley Institute of Technology, where she could get a head start on her college career – inspired by her hard-working mother, Isabella jumped on it.
She was thrilled to know she could split time between Arcadia and EVIT, where she would earn college credits toward her goal of becoming a child psychologist.
The practical side was just settling in when Isabella heard of a mind-blowing opportunity.
“My first day at EVIT,” she recalled, “a teacher talked about all the stuff we would do – and she talked about the toy drive. I thought, ‘Oh that sounds interesting.’”
Students in EVIT’s Early Childhood Education program annually complete a special class assignment by doing toy drives to collect gifts. They then pass them on, to allow-income parents to provide their children with toys for the holidays.
After helping hand out toys last year, Isabella stepped up into a leadership role this year.
At times, she wondered what she got herself into.
The toughest part?
“Planning everything,” she said with a sigh. “I think the hardest part was to get the boxes out to get donations – calling different places, emailing places, explaining what it was for and what the outcome was going to be.
“Before this, I used to be not really comfortable talking over the phone with people I don’t know, that was out of my comfort zone.”
Last year, the work paid off when it came time to hand out toys to relieved parents.
“That was the most beautiful thing: being able to watch parents pick out toys they want for kids, and them being so grateful,” Isabella said.
“There was one mother from the same country as me – I recognized by her accent. We started talking; she was so grateful her son was going to be able to get toys for Christmas. That made me so happy.”
This year’s event was held Dec. 12, benefitting parents of preschoolers enrolled in Head Start.
Helping parents explore options, Isabella was all grins – especially as her mother was next to her, helping hand out the kind of presents the family treasured a few years back.
“I’m really grateful to be doing this toy drive,” Isabella said. “Especially being a kid that had to get stuff from the community, it makes me so happy to be doing the same for others.”
EVIT info
The annual toy drive is part of the partnership between Maricopa County’s Human Services Department and EVIT that helps address the growing demand for a high quality early childhood education workforce.
EVIT is a public trade school offering tuition-free career training for East Valley high school students and tuition-based training for Phoenix area adults. The school has central campuses in Mesa and the Coronado Fire Academy in Scottsdale.
EVIT offers 50 different occupational programs.
Infromation: evit.edu.