Student collected over 660 toys for local children this Christmas season
Toy Distribution Elf in training.
Mary Beth Sallee
Jobe Publishing Inc.
Elainna Barker has been fundraising, donating, and volunteering with Toys for Tots for six years, which equates to the entirety of her young life.
Elainna’s service with the organization began when she was just 17 months old. At that time, with help from her family, she donated a few toys and participated in the service-oriented pageant, Miss Toys for Tots KY. In 2019, Elainna won the title of Wee Miss Toys for Tots. That first crown came with a service request and initiated the journey of a sisterhood full of mentorship for those like-minded individuals with a servant’s heart.
Over the years, Elainna has held toy drives at area stores, standing outside and asking for donations to fill the iconic Toys for Tots box. She has also participated in some of the largest shopping sprees that her mother, Sarah Barker, said she has ever witnessed.
“If you can envision – 20 pageant queens spending $10k to purchase toys in two hours to fill a Toys for Tots (TFT) truck! Twice she’s volunteered during the Louisville Annual TFT Motorcycle Run by collecting toys and thanking participants,” Sarah said. “Elainna has volunteered at the TFT North Pole sorting donated toys, picking toys to fulfill a family’s request, and helping pull bags, greet, and escort littles to meet Santa Claus on toy distribution day. She’s made an Amazon wishlist of toys she’d like to give to other kids. For four years, she’s set up and manned her lemonade stand where she gives away lemonade and asks for donations so that she can buy toys for TFT. Going shopping for the toys, she’s able to purchase from the donations she’s received from her lemonade stand. Then, she counts the toys and boxes them for delivery to her friends at TFT.”
Through the years – solely from her wish lists, toy drives, and lemonade stands – Elainna has delivered 2,894 toys with a retail value of over $29,000. This Christmas season, the Caverna Elementary first grader has delivered 661 toys thus far, although that number was expected to grow at the time of this interview.
All the toys that Elainna collected were donated to Toys for Tots of Southern Kentucky (TFTSK) for Hart County. Hart County’s distribution also covers Caverna families.
“TFT has a marvelous distribution system,” Sarah explained. “When unexpected extreme needs arise, they’re able to pool resources. The most local recent example is the December tornadoes in 2021. Even after most distributions had already occurred, the local chapters worked with TFTSK to ensure all affected areas could extend their service and help those impacted even after the deadline.”
Elainna shared that what she enjoys most about fundraising for Toys for Tots is her lemonade stand fundraiser.
Elainna squeezing out kindness with every cup of pink lemonade! She’s raising funds for Toys for Tots, one sip at a time.
“…It seems like work, but it’s tasty, too,” she said. “It lets me deliver a lot of smiles…The pink lemonade is my favorite part or maybe shopping for the toys.”
When asked what her wish is for other children this Christmas, Elainna replied, “That they feel loved, too!”
As a mother, Sarah said that to say she is incredibly proud and humbled of her daughter’s service to others would be an understatement.
“As an adult, I’m guilty of thinking selfishly and desiring to take a break from helping others,” Sarah said. “(But) Elainna gives me a not-so-subtle reminder of something we should do to make a difference for someone else, and from the eyes of a six-year-old, I’m reminded just how easy it would be.”
Sarah added that she and Elainna would like to thank their community, neighbors, and family because, without their support, Elainna’s impact wouldn’t be as great as it is.
“From the classmates who volunteer at her lemonade stand, the generous business owners who leave a large donation or offer incredible shopping discounts, to the ones who simply share her story because that’s all they have to give, and to the little kid who puts their saved change in her jar instead of buying that fun festival toy,” Sarah said. “Thank you for “Squeezing The Day!””
It’s often said that it is in the giving that we receive. And at such a young age, Elainna already understands this vital lesson.
“No one is too small to help,” she said. “We all have a gift to share.”
