{"id":1109,"date":"2016-12-02T06:50:27","date_gmt":"2016-12-02T11:50:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.spreadhappyness.com\/?p=1109"},"modified":"2016-12-02T01:28:56","modified_gmt":"2016-12-02T06:28:56","slug":"week-116-five-weeks-to-happyness-monster-trucks-for-toys-happyness-revisited-with-amy-wood-oblen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.spreadhappyness.com\/?p=1109","title":{"rendered":"Week #116- Five Weeks to Happyness: MONSTER TRUCKS for TOYS! (Happyness Revisited — with Amy Wood-Oblen)"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"monster-truck-flier-2016\"<\/a>

(Sat. 12\/3 at Chatterbox –\u00a0Augusta, NJ)<\/p><\/div>\n

Week #116- Five Weeks to Happyness:\u00a0MONSTER TRUCKS for TOYS!
\n(Happyness\u00a0Revisited\u00a0— with Amy Wood-Oblen)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Greetings Happyness Tribe — and\u00a0Happy December!<\/p>\n

Hope everyone had a fun and fulfilling Thanksgiving Weekend! \u00a0The holiday season is officially underway — and nothing pleases me more than to revisit<\/a> the story of a young mother paying it forward as part of our Year-End Countdown to Happyness<\/a>!<\/p>\n

Rob’s classmate — Amy Wood-Oblen and her family — are\u00a0ONCE AGAIN headlining the Monster Trucks for Toys Event at the Chatterbox Drive-In in Augusta, NJ. \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

AND IT’S THIS WEEKEND!<\/p>\n

This year’s event takes place on Saturday, December 3rd from 11-3p<\/strong>\u00a0 — and will continue to benefit children in Sussex County this holiday season. \u00a0Each new, unwrapped toy gets you a ride on the Monster Truck for free! \u00a0(See poster for details.)<\/p>\n

Amy told me last year<\/a> that she and her family are happy to give back to Project Self-Sufficiency’s Season of Hope Program. \u00a0“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.”<\/p>\n

This all\u00a0started a few years ago while Amy’s husband Shawn (owner of NJ Monster Trucks) was eating at the Chatterbox Drive-In — and talking with owner. \u00a0During that conversation, they came up with the idea of doing rides for toys.<\/p>\n

Five or six years\u00a0later,\u00a0it’s a tradition! \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Last year they collected a dining room full of toys! \u00a0(See photo below.) \u00a0Toys that will go to children right in Amy and Sean’s — and The Chatterbox’s —\u00a0own backyard. \u00a0Amy added, “it’s a plus to know it will be local children receiving the gifts.”<\/p>\n

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2015 Monster Truck Toy Drive (photo\u00a0credit: Amy Wood-Oblen)<\/p><\/div>\n

And while the suggested donation value is $5 per ride, Amy says: \u00a0“The great thing about this event is how much people give…they give much much more!”<\/p>\n

Weather has been an issue in the past because if it rains or snows they have to cancel. \u00a0This year they are starting early — with a rain\/snow date of Sunday, December 4th.<\/p>\n

It’s been years now since Amy has needed to apply for help at Christmas.<\/strong> \u00a0“I still can feel the anxious feeling waiting to see if I would qualify to receive gifts. It’s been 11 years and it’s still so fresh to me.” \u00a0Doing the toy drive allows her to take that feeling away from other parents.<\/p>\n

“Seeing and living the magic through my children and knowing we can give other children that same magic is what Happyness means to us.”<\/p>\n

Your Happyness Challenge for the week ahead: GIVE GENEROUSLY!!!\u00a0<\/strong>As I wrote in\u00a0Week #11<\/a>\u00a0when this blog first started, one of my brother’s\u00a0greatest joys was donating to Toys for Tots each year. \u00a0Spread the Wealth again this year!\u00a0 If you’re a Sussex County local, Amy’s event on Saturday is a great place to start. \u00a0I’ve also written\u00a0about the Kindness for Christopher Pajama Drive<\/a>. \u00a0Otherwise — find\u00a0a church, local food bank (don’t forget the coffee<\/a>!), Salvation Army, or other organization that will benefit people in need right in your own backyard!<\/p>\n

Spread Happyness —\u00a0GIVE GENEROUSLY! \u00a0Spread the Wealth and donate a game or toy (or food, coffee, pajamas, etc.) to those in need this year!<\/strong><\/p>\n

(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! \u00a0I’d love to feature them on the blog!)<\/p>\n

12\/2\/16\u00a0by Grace Church
\n<\/em>\u00a9 Grace Church
\ngrace@spreadhappyness.com<\/em><\/p>\n

(PS: Special thanks to Amy Wood-Oblen for taking the time to share her story with me — again! \u00a0To learn more about NJ Monster Trucks, visit them on Facebook at\u00a0facebook.com\/NJMonsters<\/a><\/em>)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Week #116- Five Weeks to Happyness:\u00a0MONSTER TRUCKS for TOYS! (Happyness\u00a0Revisited\u00a0— with Amy Wood-Oblen) Greetings Happyness Tribe — and\u00a0Happy December! Hope everyone had a fun and fulfilling Thanksgiving Weekend! \u00a0The holiday season is officially underway — and nothing pleases me more than to revisit the story of a young mother paying it forward as part of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1109","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spreadhappyness.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1109","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spreadhappyness.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spreadhappyness.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spreadhappyness.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spreadhappyness.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1109"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.spreadhappyness.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1109\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1116,"href":"https:\/\/www.spreadhappyness.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1109\/revisions\/1116"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spreadhappyness.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1109"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spreadhappyness.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1109"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spreadhappyness.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1109"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}