V for Victory held a donation drive Sunday at one of its sites on Hendricks Avenue with hopes of recouping what it lost. One woman explained how this situation hits home for her.
Ashley Snell donated with her family. She is a cancer survivor and had a bout with breast cancer from 2020 to 2021. She is currently cancer-free.
“To hear something that is good, and the people that are taking these things, truly don’t care where it is going,” Snell said. “It is just money in their pocket. That is what they are thinking. To be able to give back just a little bit, I think it is important for everybody to give what they can whenever they can.”
Volunteers said that if the Lego donation collection had not happened, hundreds, if not thousands, of families would have been affected and not have Legos because of that theft.
The theft happened in late December at the charity’s warehouse. The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office said no one has been arrested at this point and there were no signs of forced entry.
Since then, hundreds of people from across the country reached out to V for Victory representatives to see how they could help.
The charity used an Amazon wish list for people to make donations online if they could not drop off Lego sets in person.
Meredith Jespersen, a volunteer with V for Victory said she is encouraged by the outpouring of love.
“To see people rally around such a great cause. It does make you feel really good. It kind of restores faith in the world and shows that people do care,” Jesperson said.
Sydney Killian and Steve Foster stopped by the drop-off location with their son to donate. He got an extra Lego set for Christmas and wanted to contribute, instead of returning it to the store.
“My heart was aching for these kids,” Killian said. “I just felt like we just had to help. If we did not have the extra Legos, we would have just submitted it on the Amazon wish list.”
Foster said it meant a lot to see the smiles on the faces of the kids.
“Everybody coming together, it shows what Jacksonville can be and how people can help,” Snell said.
Jespersen said there are plans to have additional Lego drives as the charity works to make up for what was taken.
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