'Tis the season for family, food and gifts, but not all San Diegans are able to afford it for the holidays. So, 19 year old Lamar Canady, Jr., decided to do something about it.
“Me and my team — Lionmade Entertainment — got together and decided to do a toy drive this year for Christmas for less fortunate kids,” he said.
He and his team dug into their own pockets to buy a wide range of gifts. They also received a few toy donations from local organizations.
With hundreds of items, Canady's team assembled customized toy bags for kids of all ages and delivered them right to people's homes.
He told KPBS it was to minimize stress for those receiving the gifts — unlike drives where the recipients have to go pick the toys up.
“Sometimes people don't have rides, sometimes people wait in line for a long time just to get one toy. Or sometimes people run out of toys and people have been waiting out there all day. This year we just wanted to make it special,” Canady said.
Spring Valley’s Erica Lewis and her two children were some of the dozens of people who got the specialized gift bags.
Lewis said the generosity is particularly meaningful this year, due to high inflation and a tragedy in their family.
“This year especially because my kids lost their father back in August — he was murdered. So, this is definitely a blessing for them. It will put a smile on their face for sure,” Lewis said.
Canady's own father was shot to death in 2014.
“He was an entrepreneur, he was murdered in his business. But growing up with entrepreneur parents they always told us to be ambitious, and when you get in a position where you're blessed and you can give back, to give back,” Canady said. “So just taking that negative and turning it into a positive, that's what we're doing here.”
Canady said they promoted the toy drive on social media, and received a bigger response than expected. They were able to provide the toy bags for roughly 80 kids throughout San Diego county.
He said they plan to do an even bigger event next year with the help of other organizations.
