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 - Okay, so I am here with our GM, with my boss,
00:13 so I really can't mess this one up,
00:15 but I am here with the one and only Rick,
00:17 the GM of AZTV7.
00:19 Rick, I'm so excited to talk with you
00:21 because this is one of the most amazing events
00:23 that we do all year, and it's so special.
00:25 So this is our eighth annual.
00:27 Tell me the story that you just told me
00:30 a little bit about how this got started.
00:32 - Well, the London's that has started this
00:35 many years before us, one young lady came down and said,
00:38 "Hey, do you want to buy a lottery ticket
00:41 "and you can win a prize?"
00:42 I said, "Well, what's the prize?"
00:44 And she said, "Well, you could wear blue jeans on Friday."
00:48 And then, "Oh, okay."
00:49 I said, "What's the money going towards?"
00:51 "Well, school supplies."
00:52 I said, "Well, don't you own a TV station?"
00:54 "Well, yeah, we haven't talked to them."
00:55 I said, "Well, that's stopped."
00:57 Eight years ago, we started off
00:58 with our back-to-school drive,
01:00 and this is our eighth annual Hometown Heroes toy drive,
01:04 which is just phenomenal.
01:05 And this is your first one.
01:08 - Technically, yes, it is my first, my inaugural year,
01:11 but I'm excited because it's getting bigger
01:13 and better every year.
01:15 So tell me a little bit about what's different this year
01:18 and how it keeps growing.
01:19 - Well, we get smarter, okay?
01:22 So we've done a lot of research on what toys to get kids,
01:25 and we have our partners come in and talk to us.
01:27 So all of our advertisers, as you'll see on our website,
01:30 go to our website, take a look at 'em.
01:32 And so, it grows, and the amount of people,
01:35 like for Chicanos Puerto El Caso,
01:38 we're up to eight families of each one of 'em,
01:42 and they go out and go shopping for those families.
01:44 For the 100 Club, eight families.
01:46 So we keep multiplying and growing every year,
01:50 bigger and bigger.
01:51 So we try to figure out,
01:53 and sometimes we just don't give toys, right?
01:55 'Cause if kids need something else, a toy may not be it.
02:00 So we've gone into doing maybe a bed frame or a mattress
02:05 for just getting back into the swing of things.
02:08 We don't vet it, we let our partners vet it.
02:12 - Well, and I'm gonna interrupt you there
02:13 because you know what is also so amazing?
02:14 'Cause I've gotten to talk with a lot of our partners
02:16 throughout this whole thing
02:17 and really gotten to learn what all we do.
02:20 And it's not just the kids.
02:21 Sometimes it's also other members of the family.
02:24 Sometimes it's a spouse or it may be an aunt or uncle,
02:27 someone in that family who needs a little bit
02:29 of that Christmas spirit.
02:30 And that's why it's so beautiful,
02:32 because yes, we're giving these gifts to children
02:34 and lighting up their Christmas,
02:36 but it's for the whole family, right?
02:37 - Fantastic, yes, you're right.
02:39 I mean, Eric with Helping Hands for Freedom
02:41 has come through and has helped families over the years.
02:45 And each year we tried to figure out
02:47 how to do it a little bit bigger, a little bit better.
02:49 With your help, we can always grow bigger, right?
02:52 And it's so much fun.
02:54 It is, it's fun to be with the partners.
02:55 And we just have our advertising partners come in
02:58 and wanna work side by side with us.
03:00 We had a bunch of police in the other day.
03:02 - You know, I know I was there
03:04 and I was gonna bring that up
03:05 because that was such an amazing experience
03:08 to be in the station with everyone wrapping.
03:10 The energy and the Christmas spirit, it was so beautiful.
03:14 - It came from this small to what you saw.
03:17 And you guys on the mix, this is fantastic.
03:21 I mean, the mix is such a huge part of this
03:24 because you go out to the community,
03:25 you talk to the community and the community talks to you.
03:27 So I wanna say thank you, Lexi.
03:29 And that guy, Brad, right?
03:30 Yeah, Brad, right.
03:32 And all the team behind you, but the AZ Daily Mix,
03:35 I'm proud of everybody
03:37 'cause it just goes back to the community.
03:39 This is fantastic.
03:40 - Well, Rick, thank you for saying that
03:41 because we're so honored to be a part of this.
03:43 It's such a beautiful event.
03:44 And really we are inspired and empowered
03:47 through you guys.
03:48 It all comes down from the top
03:49 and we have an amazing team just putting everything together
03:52 and it's such a special night.
03:53 So Rick, thank you so much, but-
03:55 - One more, okay?
03:56 I have to do a shout out to the person
03:58 that really lets us do all of this.
04:00 It's a fantastic opportunity to our boss, Lynn London.
04:04 Over the years, the owner of the station,
04:06 thank you so much for letting us have this much fun
04:10 and help this many people, right?
04:12 - She is truly the best,
04:13 but everybody at the station is amazing.
04:15 Lynn, we love you.
04:16 Thank you so much for empowering us to do this.
04:18 And Rick, thank you.
04:20 We have more of this special night coming up for you
04:22 from the Phoenix Zoo Zoo Lights right after this.
04:25 (upbeat music)
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