(Used with permission)
Week #220 – MONSTER TRUCKS for TOYS rolls on! (Happyness Continued — with Amy Wood-Oblen)
Greetings Happyness Tribe — and Happy Holidays!!!
The holiday season is officially upon us — and nothing pleases me more than to revisit (once again) the story of a young mother paying it forward as part of my Year-End Countdown to Happyness!
Especially THIS year — as Amy and her family lost their regularly scheduled venue for their unique annual charity event. (Read on…)
For more than five years, Amy Wood-Oblen and her monster-truck driving family headlined the Monster Trucks for Toys Event at the Chatterbox Drive-In in Augusta, NJ — which benefited children in Sussex County, NJ.
Last year, it was announced that the Chatterbox would be closing in 2018. Which left Amy and her family searching for a venue to donate their truly unique offering: Monster Truck Rides in exchange for the donation of a toy/gift for local families in need this holiday season.
But it seemed that finding a home for a big monster truck is not that easy!
And, in addition to mere logistics, Amy and her family have faced several challenges this year. In a quick chat with Amy via private message, she filled me in:
“This year has definitely been trying. We lost a friend in January, lost my stepdad the same week my daughter got kicked in the head by a horse and we almost lost her, and two weeks ago my mother-in-law’s boyfriend of 31 years passed away.”
Amy had every reason to let it go — to skip this year and maybe pick it up again in the future. But, as anyone who knows Amy probably knows, she pressed on! Determined to do something for the holiday season, “We asked our kids’ school next door to find out what local families need help…”
…and bam, she got a venue!
So this Saturday, December 1st from 11-3p in Hackettstown, NJ — Amy and her monster-truck-driving-family will continue their tradition of giving free monster truck rides in exchange for toys! The flyer (above) is dark, so here are the details:
Winter Holiday Fundraiser Monster Truck Rides
Saturday, December 1st from 11:00 am – 3:00 pm
(Rain date: Saturday, December 8th)
High View Farms
416 Sandshore Road
Hackettstown, NJ
We ask for toy donations in exchange for a monster truck ride.
All toy donations will benefit Sandshore School’s Giving Tree and Winter Wonderland Toy Shoppe which will be given to local families in need.
Amy told me in 2015 that she and her family are happy to give back (at that time, to Project Self-Sufficiency’s Season of Hope Program). “It means a lot to us because years before I met my husband I lived in Sussex County with my son and for a few years they helped me to put presents under my tree, so I owe them a lot.”
This year, the tradition continues!!!
2015 Monster Trucks for Toys Event at the Chatterbox (photo credit: Amy Wood-Oblen)
(To read more about how Amy and her husband got this all started…visit my original post on Week #63.)
Your Happyness Challenge for the week ahead: GIVE GENEROUSLY!!! As I wrote in Week #11 when this blog first started, one of my brother’s greatest joys was donating to Toys for Tots each year. Spread the Wealth again this year! If you’re a Sussex County local, Amy’s event on Saturday is a great place to start. Otherwise — find a church, local food bank (don’t forget the coffee!), Salvation Army, Toys for Tots, or other organization that will benefit people in need right in your own backyard!
Spread Happyness — GIVE GENEROUSLY! Spread the Wealth and donate a game or toy (or food, coffee, pajamas, etc.) to those in need this year!
(And if you or someone you know is hosting their own local charity event or fundraiser that Spreads Happyness directly to those who need it — please let me know! I’d love to feature them on the blog!)
11/30/18 by Grace Church
© Grace Church
grace@spreadhappyness.com
(PS: Special thanks to Amy Wood-Oblen for taking the time to share and update her story with me again this year! To learn more about NJ Monster Trucks, visit them on Facebook at facebook.com/NJMonsters)