After a month of promoting the annual drive to customers and offering an admission discount for every donation, as of last Sunday, BounceU Bethlehem had exactly one toy in its Toys for Tots collection box.
Forty-eight hours later, the same box overflowed with 100. “There was no way we were going to disappoint local children who count on us,” says BounceU Lehigh Valley General Manager Carissa Santos. So, on Sunday afternoon she fired off an email to the 60+ teenage employees who staff the company’s two locations. “I know this is last minute,” it read, “but our Toys for Tots bins are looking pretty bare…if any of you are out shopping tonight or tomorrow maybe you would be able pick something up…Let’s spread a little Christmas cheer this year and help out kids less fortunate then us.”
BounceU owner Mike Principato liked Santos’ idea so much that he upped the ante by offering to match every donation, toy-for-toy “Hope you’re ready to go shopping,” Santos told Principato.
Twenty-four hours later, Principato was roaming the aisles of a local department store on a quest to buy 50 toys…one to match every toy contributed the day before by BounceU employees, their friends and their families, for a total of exactly 100 Toys for Tots.
Principato says, “I’m not a guy who likes to shop, but I sure didn’t mind that trip. I’m so grateful to and proud of Carissa and the great group of kids who work at our stores. In 48 hours, we went from one toy to one-hundred. They created their own little Christmas miracle for the children who will receive those toys.”
BounceU Bethlehem and BounceU Allentown are the region’s premier indoor recreation centers for active family fun, offering 10,000 square feet of climate-controlled, spotlessly-clean fun on giant interactive inflatables. BounceU is a national franchise network that specializes in children’s birthday parties, summer day camps, open-to-the-public play sessions and other events in a safe, supervised and private setting. BounceU Lehigh Valley’s “Bounce It Forward” program sponsors dozens of free parties every year for local nonprofit agencies that serve the needs of children and families. For more information, please visit www.bounceu.com
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