Last month there was a massive fire in a warehouse in St. Louis where the Shriners held all of the toys and blankets. All the items in the storage area were for the children currently in Shriners Hospital.

Due to this tragic event, DECA hosted a toy drive for the children to help out Shriners.

DECA started the toy drive the Monday after Thanksgiving break. They collected unwrapped toys, which were dropped off in Mr. Barnes’ room and the school store. Fliers were posted all around the building to help spread the word. Mrs. Taylor and Barnes delivered all the toys they gathered to the hospital themselves. 

The toy drive was a last minute idea, but for how little of a notice he gave about the event, Barnes was very happy with the turnout. He didn’t expect to receive as many toys as he did. He was hoping to just get whatever he could find, or was available. The amount of toys he received didn’t matter to him.

“If I got five toys great, if I got 1,000 great,” said Barnes.

The drive turned out better than what Barnes predicted. With all the factors that were working against them such as the timing of everything. Barnes and the DECA students really only had one week to get the drive done.

“The amount that I got in such a short time frame was really impressive,” Barnes said.