We all need a little bit of hope this 2020 holiday season, so I decided to do a series featuring local non-profit organizations doing good work. For this first episode, I interview Ryan Russek, founder of Wish Upon a Toy, a non-profit that delivers gifts on Christmas Day to cancer patients at the City of Hope. The idea for Wish Upon a Toy started when Ryan and his father, a cancer patient himself, decided to deliver Christmas gifts to the pediatric patients at City of Hope. Ryan’s dad lost his battle to cancer on Christmas Day 2005, but his legacy lives on in the joy that Wish Upon a Toy delivers every year.

Links + resources for this episode
Wish Upon a Toy
12 Days of San Dimas
San Dimas City Council Meeting: December 8, 2020 | 7pm | Watch here
Parks and Recreation Commission Vacancy
Isabel in San Dimas: What is the Specific Plan No. 23 Moratorium?
Isabel in San Dimas: “Crown of the Citrus Belt”
GoFundMe: Support Andrea, Lizzie and Ernest
Spark of Joy: Accepting donations at Los Angeles County Fire Department Station 64 | 164 S. Walnut Ave.