A little girl recently who lost everything in the recent California Fire made the selfless decision to hold a toy drive for children in need.
Seven-year-old Sophia Novotny and her family suddenly lost their Agoura Hills home after the lesser-known “Woolsey Fire” destroyed the area located just north of LA. Sophia’s mother, April Novotny, told ABC-7, “very quickly she realized their things were gone.” Although the family was devastated by the catastrophic event, the extraordinary seven-year-old began to make plans to help other children that were impacted by the disaster.
“The day that we lost the house, she said, ‘Let’s get some toys for the other kids who have lost their house,'” April mentioned. On Sunday, the second-grader held the “Sophia’s Wishes” toy drive in Thousand Oaks. The event proved to be a great success, and hundreds of toys were delivered to children from the area who, like Sophia, lost everything in the fire. The toy drive, which was made laid on in partnership with a local business, RadNet, brought in hundreds of guests who were excited to help out.
With Thanksgiving and Christmas quickly approaching, Sophia revealed that her only goal in creating the toy drive was “to help other kids.”
“I know how it feels to lost [sic] your things,” she noted.
April took to Facebook to share her appreciation for those who took part in the toy drive:
“Thank you to everyone who took Sophia’s idea and ran with it!!! So many people came out to support, donate, and hug each other. These children want to help, and want to feel in control of something in this whirlwind we call life. She feels a little more in confident of her place in the world today.”
Sophia also caught the attention of the Ventura County Fire Department, who shared a Facebook post praising the young girl for her strength and kindness:
“Sophia Novotny is a 7 year old who lost everything in the recent #Woolseyfire She was devastated but instead of crying she organized a toy drive for the other other children who lost everything. Her event not only got toys to 4 families but also generated 1,000’s of toys for the spark of love toy drive. She is such an amazing young lady and we are proud to have been apart of something so special.”
Photo courtesy: Unsplash
