Teen spends decade helping Toys for Tots at Christmas
Sophia Strnisha has saved pennies to purchase toys for the Marine Corps Toys for Tots program since 2009. This photo shows the Canon-McMillan High School junior during her most recent toy drop at Washington Crown Center mall.
Sophia Strnisha has saved pennies to purchase toys for the Marine Corps Toys for Tots program since she was 6. Here she is shown donating toys for the first time at the Marine Corps recruiting office in Washington Crown Center mall.
‘Tis the season for Sophia Strnisha to spend her pennies – thousands of them – on Toys for Tots gifts.
For a decade, the 16-year-old junior at Canon-McMillan High School has purchased toys for children in need with pennies she collects throughout the year.
On Dec. 1, she dropped off her annual donation at the Marines’ Toys for Tots box at the U.S. Marine Corps recruiting office at Washington Crown Center.
Strnisha started collecting pennies and shopping for toys for other children when she was 6.
“I’ve always wanted to help people,” said Strnisha. “Whenever I was little I always had these great Christmases, and to find out there were kids my age who weren’t opening up toys on Christmas, I wanted to help them do that.”
Strnisha’s altruistic roots trace back to a church service at Holy Rosary Catholic Church in Muse, when she noticed the poor box in the back of the church. Her parents explained that the money benefited underprivileged families, and Strnisha vowed she would collect pennies to help them out.
But around Christmastime, when she and her mother, Susan, saw a Toys for Tots box at the mall while shopping, Strnisha decided to purchase toys for economically disadvantaged children.
“I asked my mom what the box was for, and she said it was for kids who don’t get a lot of toys at Christmas,” recalled Strnisha. “I was concerned and confused, and wondered how is Santa not finding them. My mom told me some kids move around a lot, or for different reasons Santa can’t find them, and I decided that’s what I was going to collect for.”
Soon, her three older siblings, along with her parents and grandmother, were giving Strnisha pennies.
She purchased two or three gifts for Toys for Tots, and her parents assumed Strnisha’s philanthropy would end.
But Strnisha told her family she wanted to continue donating to Toys for Tots, and over the years, relatives and friends have embraced – and contributed to – her cause.
Said her father, Rob, “It was kind of funny that the whole family got into it. If you were walking in a parking lot and you saw a penny on the ground, you’d pick it up so you could give it to Sophia.”
Strnisha and her parents hand-count the pennies and then take them to a coin counter at a local grocery store to convert the coins to cash and gift cards. This year, Strnisha purchased four toys, including an elephant-shaped interactive children’s book and a garage with toy cars.
Rob Strnisha said his daughter has always had a big heart and enjoys helping people.
“We really thought it would be a one-year thing,” said Rob Strnisha. “She’s always been a very inquisitive kid and was always asking questions. My wife and I always talked to her about the reality of the world. For her, it’s never been about her. She’s always wanted to help out other children. I could not be prouder of her.”
Strnisha is a member of the drama club and the band, where she is a Canonette, and she dances at SKM Dance Studio. She also is an aide for the eighth-grade CCD class at Holy Rosary and participates in the youth group.
She is considering a career in social work.
Age, she believes, doesn’t matter when it comes to having a positive impact.
“I just kind of want little kids to know I was 6 when I started,” said Strnisha. “It doesn’t matter how old or how big you are, you can make a big difference in the world.”