It’s the 8th Annual Hometown Heroes Toy Drive! AZTV 7 and Desert Financial Credit Union have teamed up with Valley of the Sun United Way, along with local area businesses, to help bring the joy of the holidays to families throughout Arizona. For more information visit https://www.aztv.com/hometownheroes-2023
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00 (upbeat music)
00:02 - Welcome back to Channel 7's
00:11 Desert Financial Credit Union's
00:13 Hometown Heroes Toy Drive.
00:14 And I gotta tell ya, this is what it's all about.
00:17 Throughout, of course, the fall,
00:19 we've been collecting toys for our first responder families,
00:22 our military families, and families in need.
00:24 And now we're at the big event
00:26 that Helping Hands for Freedom puts on
00:28 for our military families,
00:29 which is so great.
00:30 Eric, listen, you've been over at the station
00:33 more than me at times, I'll tell ya,
00:34 because this is such an important thing here.
00:36 (laughing)
00:37 And so, you've been over at the station, of course,
00:40 making sure we're getting this right for you.
00:41 - It's my radio voice, that's what it is.
00:42 Yeah, whatever, yeah, yeah.
00:43 - How great's this, Eric?
00:45 - This is our best night of the year.
00:47 We have almost 300 family members here.
00:49 Gold Star, Wounded Warrior families,
00:50 a few Guard families.
00:52 And you can tell the kids are going crazy.
00:54 They've already scouted out toys,
00:55 picked out what they want.
00:57 You're gonna be friends here in about 25, 30 minutes
01:00 of kid after kid after kid.
01:03 Santa Claus is outside to say hi to them.
01:05 Photo ops, the whole thing.
01:06 So it's gonna be great.
01:07 It's our big night, big night, yeah.
01:08 - It is, and it's very important
01:10 because the families back here
01:11 have either lost someone or someone's been deployed.
01:14 Someone's not there right now.
01:15 - Yeah, a lot of the deployments right now
01:16 are actually to Poland, right, the Ukrainian border.
01:19 So it's kinda scary for some of these families, yeah.
01:21 - And you literally start tomorrow,
01:23 after this event's over,
01:25 getting ready for next year
01:26 and for all the other things too,
01:27 'cause Helping Hands for Freedom does more
01:30 than I know for families throughout the community.
01:32 - Well, yeah, a lot of rent, mortgage, utilities,
01:35 car payments, that's our real primary mission, if you will.
01:38 But we have these nice events like this once in a while too,
01:39 like hockey games, baseball games,
01:41 Zoo Lights is the culmination of the year, always, always.
01:45 - And what's really amazing is that
01:47 you do have some families that are returning,
01:48 but then you have new families here that get that support.
01:51 So this is a night of not just a celebration
01:53 of the holidays, it's also a support night
01:55 for those families going through hard times.
01:58 - A lot of families see each other a couple times a year,
02:00 they share this unfortunate experience in many cases,
02:03 but it is what it is, and they like each other,
02:05 the kids get together,
02:06 the kids become buddies for life, basically,
02:09 which is pretty cool.
02:10 - Yeah, and we see their faces light up with the toys.
02:13 But I like seeing your face light up,
02:16 'cause that's what it's about.
02:17 You can't hide, Eric, you can't.
02:19 I see you light up when you see that kid come up
02:21 and go, "Thank you."
02:23 - The kids are the best.
02:25 I mean, they think I'm really cool,
02:27 and that's pretty cool for me, yeah.
02:28 So yeah, yeah.
02:29 - This is great.
02:30 Not only are they, of course, getting toys,
02:32 they get a chance to enjoy the zoo,
02:34 and it's because of some great sponsors
02:35 and people participating for this.
02:37 - Yeah, Lincoln Financial, you guys,
02:39 and just the Financial Credit Union.
02:40 I mean, without those three great people,
02:42 this doesn't happen, period.
02:45 - Yeah, and we need to also talk about
02:47 why this is dear to your heart,
02:48 Helping Hands for Freedom is important to you.
02:51 - Well, my son came back from the war in 2012,
02:52 injured, you know, 1st Marines, Afghanistan,
02:55 Helmand Province, he has a brain injury, PTSD.
02:58 So I realize what families go through,
03:00 even though he came back, he wasn't the same person.
03:02 Cost him his marriage and a couple jobs
03:05 'cause he couldn't handle a lot of the stress.
03:07 But he's here, he's doing fine now.
03:09 He's not driving, he's just driving,
03:11 doing his thing all the time.
03:13 It took him 10 years, but he's back, he's back, yeah.
03:15 - And that's why this is so important tonight,
03:17 because it is giving those parents hope,
03:18 and they have someone that knows what they're going through.
03:21 And that's why we celebrate them.
03:22 That's why we have a good time
03:23 with the gifts and everything.
03:24 We've been wrapping, we're getting stuff ready
03:26 and everything, which has been fun.
03:28 - It is D-Night of the year.
03:30 Many families don't really have a big Christmas.
03:32 This makes their Christmas, and that's pretty cool.
03:34 - So it is.
03:35 There's food, fun, it's just enjoyable for everyone.
03:38 - Santa Claus, come on, man.
03:39 - You can't be Santa Claus, there it is.
03:41 Eric, we thank you for letting us be a part of this,
03:43 'cause I know at first this was a very quiet, intimate event.
03:46 - It was.
03:47 - The family said, "No, we wanna open up.
03:48 "We wanna show what is going on in the community
03:50 "and taking care of our military families."
03:52 - We had maybe 30 or 40 the first year,
03:54 and now we're at 300.
03:55 - Yeah, and this is just--
03:56 - Santa Claus grown.
03:56 - And this is just a few.
03:57 I mean, there was a lot more we're taking care of, too.
04:00 - A lot of, we have toys going to Southern Arizona,
04:02 Fort Huachuca, also Flagstaff,
04:04 and even here in Phoenix, Arizona.
04:05 So toys are going everywhere who cannot be here.
04:08 So yes, it's a big night, big night.
04:10 - And a lot of community of families here and everything.
04:12 - We brought five pallets of toys, okay?
04:13 That's all we have, yeah.
04:14 - And the community of families here, it's so important.
04:16 - Absolutely, yes.
04:17 - So yeah, it's so incredible.
04:18 - Great event, great night, a lot of fun.
04:20 Happy holidays.
04:21 - There it is.
04:22 Well, I'll tell you, as we said,
04:24 it's a night to honor our families,
04:27 for those who have served our country.
04:28 And we couldn't do it without some wonderful sponsors.
04:31 (upbeat music)
04:33 (upbeat music)
04:36 [BLANK_AUDIO]