Families gathered on Sunday at Fast Friends Beer Co. to participate in the first ever “Give a Toy, Get a Toy: Dell Children’s Holiday Drive,” a toy swap benefiting Dell Children’s Medical Center while connecting Austin residents with local resources.
Two years ago, local musician Kelsi Creek started her tradition of handing out toys to children at her shows as a way to connect with families. This year, Creek wanted to target a group of kids who might not always be able to attend her shows: Dell Children’s patients.
“I wanted to celebrate the two years of me doing free toys for the kids, and so I wanted to find a way to kind of connect two communities,” Creek said. “The idea was to find a way to teach kids a little bit about giving back and giving to others.”
The toy swap invited guests to give a prepackaged toy to donate while also receiving one of the many plushes that Creek collected over the past year.
“I started collecting Beanie Babies off of Facebook Marketplace,” Creek said. “I’ve given away almost 1,000 toys in two years to kids just because it’s something I enjoy doing. It brings me a lot of joy.”
The event featured multiple Austin businesses and vendors, such as Austin Public Library and Planned Parenthood. Each group had a table with activities or information available to attendees to peruse. The event also featured live performances with Austin musicians.
“(It is) really hard to find … different communities and … be present in your own city and town,” said Brooke Lacy, who helped plan the event. “I think that it’s not all about just the toy drive or the toy swap. It’s trying to give back to the community and see what you have available to you.”
One of the main focuses of the event was creating a family-friendly environment for people of all ages.
“Even if you’re not a kid or you don’t have a kid, it’s still accessible to you,” Lacy said. “We wanted this day to not just be about the kids and not just be about adults. (We want this) to be a big community day.”
Alexis Waetzig, a pediatric physical therapist who has known Creek for a while, was excited to participate in the toy swap.
“I just think every child, every baby deserves to be treated with the utmost care and Dell Children’s is an amazing hospital,” Waetzig said. “I’m very familiar with them, and it’s just a great cause to give back and support underserved families and do what we can to help them.”
Creek said one of the most important aspects of the event is providing Austin families a way to benefit children in need while creating an environment for them to reach out to other resources in the community.
“If you’re in the mood to give back a little bit, especially (since) this year has been a really gloomy year,” Creek said. “If you need a little pick-me-up, this would be something fun to do.”
