Storyteller Sunday/Monday

Hi there again, I am now back with my special belated Sunday storytelling post and it actually happened yesterday.
So my family, mum, dad, sister, her BF and I, had all congregated for a belated New Year meal/catch up as my sister and BF had been away over Christmas. We had finished our roast dinner, very nice too, and were chatting about life, the universe, etcetera when my sister began a conversation whcih went along the lines of..................

''Children have so much these days, I cant believe they have that much technology by the age of 10years old!''

A short hush descended on the table as we thought about what she had said. My parents then said ''But your grandparents said exactly the same thing about you receiving gifts as children at Xmas and birthdays''. And I have to admit I remember what they said was true more than my sister did.
Admittedly we didn't have gadgets as such but we had games, puzzles, books, teddies and dolls, admittedly many were handmade by our mother but never the less we did have a lot.
Then my parents, well actually it was my mum said
''Maybe we should do what we did when we little and have the toy service back in church''.

We asked her what she meant and she said that when she was a little girl, there was an annual toy service before Christmas and every child chose a toy they no longer played with or loved and brought it wrapped up and put it under the Christmas tree in church and these gifts were given to the poor children in the parish before Christmas. She thinks she is going to ask the Rector at their church to begin this again at their church.

My dad also told us a story from his childhood. His father came to him one day when he was 8 and said...
 
''Son, your cousins up North are having a really tough time and we must help them. I want you to give them your toy trains''.

My dad said he did as he was asked but that he had never felt so sad to give up something he loved so much.
This story reminds me so much of the families who I visit as my job who are less fortunate and receive special  vouchers to buy toys or who are a part of the local toy scheme where charities give toys out to the least fortunate children. At our church we send children's toy parcels to poor children across the world but I am unsure what happens for local children and  their families. It is such an important time of the year for all children, I wonder what happens in your community and if your parents and grandparents remember the toy service?