As NAM was preparing for the 2020 holiday season, we knew there would be a greater need for food and toys. However, we did not anticipate the number of families who would reach out to NAM for help.

In October 2020, NAM opened up registration for its Season of Blessings for families needing food and toys for the holidays. Within 24-hours over 1,800 families signed-up for food and 5,600 children needed gifts. The hope was to make sure each child received at least three toys, which meant NAM needed to collect over 16,000 toys!

When Dr. Rodney E. Watson, Superintended of Spring ISD and Chair of the NAM Board of Trustees, heard about NAM’s gift goal, he did not hesitate to answer the call for help. He promised to start a toy drive in all the Spring ISD schools.

Immediately, two more Board of Trustee members, Dr. Jenny McGown, Superintended of Klein ISD, and Dr. LaTonya M. Geoffney, Superintendent of Aldine ISD committed to do the same. In the spirit of friendly competition, the three Superintendents boasted that their schools would collect more toys than the other. After that, the race was on for the Spring, Klein, and Aldine toy drives.

The toys were collected and counted in December. In the end, Aldine ISD was the victor and collected the most toys. To show our appreciation, NAM’s President & CEO, Les Cave, along with Dr. Watson, presented Aldine ISD with a trophy on Saturday, February 5, 2021.

Thanks to the generosity – and fun-loving competitiveness - of these three school districts, NAM collected 17,500 toys and brought a lot of smiles to kids’ faces.