What started as a MacArthur grad's way to assist children who have to spend the holidays in the hospital, the way he did in his senior year of high school, has become a community event, which was clearly evident at Levittown Memorial Education Center last Thursday evening at the Fourth Annual Toys for Sick Children Benefit Reception.

This benefit reception was started by Levittown Vocational Key Club Advisor Linda Reed, and has since been extended beyond just the Key Club. This year the cocktail party was sponsored by the Salk Builder's Club and Levittown Vocational Center's National Vocational Technical Honor Society in addition to LVC's Key Club.

The event was not just sponsored by different school organizations, it was attended by local residents from various organizations as well as residents who read about the event and just wanted to help out this cause. The Key Club is the high school version of Kiwanis and the Builder's Club is the middle school version of the community service organization. In recognition of the work their younger counterparts were doing, many members of the Levittown Kiwanis Club were on hand for the reception.

Each person at the event was asked to bring a toy for John Theissen's organization, Toys for Sick Children. Toys for Sick Children is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to helping sick children by providing them with things that will make their days a little brighter. When he was 17, Theissen was in the hospital over the holidays having a brain tumor removed. It was then that he saw how many children and their families spend the holidays in the hospital which motivated him to found Toys for Sick Children in 1992.

Toys for Sick Children has become a year-round project but the holidays are when there is a great demand for toys and games for hospitalized children. It was with this in mind this benefit reception was held. This event gave people an opportunity to participate in the toy drive while enjoying hors d'oeuvres prepared by the LVC Culinary Arts Program.

Figuring that over the past nine years, giving an average of 30,000 toys a year, and that the children smile at least once each time they play with these toys, David Moll, one of the attendees at the benefit reception, called Theissen the "Man of a Million Smiles." Theissen himself was all smiles as he thanked everyone at the event for their continual generosity.