9-Year-Old Donates Birthday Gifts to Toys for Tots

US First Lady Melania Trump arrives to speak at the annual Marine Toys for Tots program ho
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A generous nine-year-old girl asked only one thing for her birthday this year— that the toys from her birthday party be donated to Toys for Tots so kids in need could enjoy them.

Sophia Burns, of Saginaw, Michigan, celebrated her birthday party on October 20 and asked all of her friends to bring unwrapped toys so she could donate them to Toys for Tots.

This past Sunday, she did just that by taking those unwrapped toys to Saginaw Township Fire Station 3, hoping that the kids who receive them will have a Merry Christmas with toys they will love.

“What hit me really hard was the next morning when she said to me when she looks at the whole box and says ‘wow there’s going to be a lot of kids this Christmas that’s going to be very happy,’” Shanna Burns, Sophia’s mother, told WNEM.

Everyone who donated to Toys for Tots got a chance to ride the local fire truck, including Sophia.

Sophia said she is happy to donate because, in her mind, it is better to give than to receive.

“We’re just a giving family and not a receiving,” Sophia said.

Shanna said she and her family plan to make this a yearly tradition and hopes to inspire other families to do the same thing.

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