A pair of Santa Clarita siblings have dedicated themselves to making the holiday season a little bit brighter for other children, offering candy canes in return for donations.
11-year-old twins Troy and Cheyenne Valvo have taken it upon themselves to collect any monetary donations in return for handing out free candy canes in order to donate toys to local fire stations for children in need.
“We just like doing it for fun, and doing it because we always get gifts at Christmas, but sometimes other kids don’t,” said Cheyenne.
The tradition started around five years ago when a next-door neighbor gave the kids candy canes, and in turn, the Valvo siblings started passing them out to passing cars coming to look at holiday lights. A few cars gave money in return for the candy canes, and Troy and Chyennne were inspired to collect more funds to donate toys to the local fire stations, according to their father, Mike Valvo.
Their parents are one of the original founders of the Homestead Holiday lights display, one of the most popular destinations for viewing neighborhood Christmas lights in Santa Clarita.
Renamed “Homestead Holiday” for the winter season, Homestead Place is located near Copper Hill and Seco Canyon Road. Residents decorate everything from the road to their rooftops, stringing lights across the street from house to house.
Photo Courtesy of the Valvo Family
“It seems that the holiday season brings out the best in our city and although the candy canes are a free gesture from us to the visitors on our street, some people return the kind gesture and donate money towards the candy canes,” said Mike.
Last year, over $2,000 worth of toys were handed over to Fire Station 111 on Seco Canyon Road to be distributed to children and families in need.
This year, the Los Angeles County Fire department is not accepting physical donations for their Sparks of Love toy drive due to the coronavirus pandemic, so the toys are planned to be bought online to ensure that children in need still receive their presents. Even still, lines of cars up to 15 vehicles long line up to offer donations of toys and money to the Valvos and other volunteers.
One of the things that Troy and Cheyenne are very insistent on is to make sure that all children, from infants to teenagers, get to enjoy gifts on Christmas.
Although this year’s goal of $2,000 has already been reached, the family plans to collect final donations on Monday, Dec. 21 and Tuesday, Dec. 22 in order to provide as many gifts to as many children as possible.
Cheyenne thanked everyone who donated to the toy drive, and encouraged members of the community to come by for a treat and to see the Christmas lights.
“A big thank you to those who donate, and also even if you don’t have money, you still get a candy,” she said.
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