Charlotte County boy battling cancer pays it forward with toy drive, goal of 10,000 gifts

Reporter: Erika Jackson
Published: Updated:
Alex Meyer, 10, returns home to see packages of donated toys for his toy drive.(Credit: WINK News)

A young boy with a big heart is collecting toys for kids in the hospital for the second year in a row, and he needs your help.

Alex Meyer, 10, comes home to boxes and boxes of deliveries at his doorstep, but the toys are not for him. They’re for kids who need a reason to smile.

“I know kids that have it a lot harder than me right now,” Alex explained.

This 10-year-old sure doesn’t have it easy. He has an inoperable cancerous brain tumor.

Looking at a poster board he made, he said, “It’s my chemo countdown – until it’s done. There is 28 left.”

He has a hard time seeing, walking and remembering, but his heart is still as big as ever.

Alex said this is his second toy drive “and so last year we collected say around 6,000 toys.”

We introduced you to Alex at the start of his first toy drive in 2020. After the story aired, it went national. All the coverage brought in thousands of more toys from across America to total more than 6,400.

This year, Alex is aiming even higher with a goal of collecting 10,000 toys.

The toys are for babies, teenagers, and kids of all ages in between who are in hospitals all over Florida, including Golisano Children’s Hospital of Southwest Florida.

He said, “We’ve collected, right now, including all the orders on Amazon right now, about 310 toys.”

For Alex to reach his goal, he needs your help.

He knows every little toy will bring big smiles, to him, to you, and to the children who receive them.  “You doing just a good deed in your day, makes you feel good.”

And they’ll bring big smiles to the kids who need them most.

Alex’s family also plans to donate $1 dollar to the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation for every toy donated, up to a maximum of $10,000.

If you’d like to follow Alex’s journey, check out this Facebook page. If you’d like to donate to his toy drive, he has set up a Wish List on Amazon.

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