We recently connected with Tracy, Jarrett, Zakary, Gracyn, and Ari Smith and have shared our conversation below.
Tracy, Jarrett, Zakary, Gracyn, and Ari, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We love heartwarming stories – do you have a heartwarming story from your career to share?
During our first international donation in Israel, we were able to spend time with patients who were either about to have heart surgery or recovering in a recovery home from heart surgery. Being able to spend a few hours with the patients as we donated toys to and their care givers instead of the typical few minutes most hospitals allow was amazing! We were able to play with the children, see their smiles, and engage with the families seeing the impact even more. Having our own family medical history in the hospital, which started Smith Smiles Toy Donations, is why we created our nonprofit. Spending time with patients is important to us because we know how stressful it can be to have a child with medical conditions. The time spent at Save a Child’s Heart with their patients strengthened our commitment to donating toys to those who need it during times of medical stress.
Tracy, Jarrett, Zakary, Gracyn, and Ari, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
Smith Smiles Toy Donations is a family run 501c3 nonprofit founded after Tracy and Jarrett Smith’s daughter (Gracyn) was in and out of the hospital several times for spinal surgery and epilepsy. During the multiple hospital stays, Gracyn’s older brother, Zakary, saw during his visits with his sister that many of the toys at the hospital were ‘well loved’ and either broken or missing pieces. When Zakary was turning six, he decided to donate his birthday gifts to the hospital Gracyn had her spinal surgery at and each year after that, all three Smith Children (Zakary, Gracyn, and Ari) continued to donated their birthday gifts eventually evolving into organizing toy/craft collections at local schools, camps, and religious organizations. As a family, we would find children’s hospitals around Florida where we live to donate the items to or take a donation on vacation with us and arrange a donation anywhere we traveled.
After approximately five years, our family decided to become a nonprofit so we could fundraise and branch out. Since we began counting the donations after becoming a nonprofit in 2016, we have donated over fifteen thousand items to 21 states, 2 countries, and two more states in the works for the summer of 2022 to bring our total of states to 23 states. We have donated to 42 hospitals, most multiple times with each donation having a range of 150-300 items in each donation.
Our connection to families going through a tough time in the hospital with their child due to our own experiences enables us to see what is needed for donation. Gracyn (14 years old), Zakary (16 years old), and Ari (11 years old) enjoy shopping for items to donate based on the needs they see in the hospital and what we have experienced as a family. We use the financial donations sent to Smith Smiles Toy Donations to either purchase toys or ship items to friends and family to deliver for us. In the past few years, Gracyn, Zakary, and Ari formed a sibling band hosting musical fundraisers to raise money for donations performing music at local venues with their band, The Awkward Silence Band. They are fortunate to have amazing and giving friends who are in the teen music scene who are willing to also donate their time for charity gigs so we can raise money and donate more toys. Having a way to fundraise through their passion for music sets them apart because they are able to have a fun, exciting fundraiser for a great cause! People join us to listen to music, bring new toys, and see our commitment to helping children heal through love and therapeutic play.
As parents, Tracy and Jarrett Smith are proud of the work Ari, Gracyn, and Zakary continue to accomplish. They are Chief Kid Officers of Smith Smiles Toy Donations, learn how to speak publicly for a good cause, and put the needs of others as a top priority. Since we are a nonprofit, we function completely on donations and financial donations allow us to purchase/ship the exact items hospitals need. Our family is always looking for new connections to hospitals in need and to continue the connections of hospitals we have previously donated to so we can bring smiles to children and families going through a tough medical time.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
The pandemic impacted Smith Smiles Toy Donations ability to get toys where we needed them to go. When the world shut down, so did our ability to donate toys at a time when they needed them the most. Packages were not being accepted, we were not allowed on site, and we could not fundraise in the way we used to through pizza or taco nights at a local restaurant.
We continued to connect with the child life teams at the hospitals we had the strongest and longest relationships with to see how we could possibly continue to donate toys. Through continued communication and adapting our methods of donations, we were able to slowly get back to donations. First it was only drop at the front door, walk away, and the hospital staff would pick up the donation. Then we were able to move to a joint six-feet apart picture, but you could not come inside the hospital. We are slowly getting back to being invited into the hospital, but most hospitals still do not allow patient visits. Our favorite part of the donations is visiting with the families, so we hope we can get back to that soon!
As long as we are able to donate toys, Smith Smiles Toy Donations will continue!
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
Through the global pandemic, we had to get creative with our fundraising techniques. Previously, we had school, camp, and other organization host toy drives for us. With the shut down, no one was open and we were not able to collect items from other people due to sanitation concerns. Fundraising was previously at ‘give back’ nights at local restaurants that shifted to limited capacity.
Smith Smiles Toy Donations pivoted to ‘Rock for a Cause’ charity music nights at outdoor venues to raise money for purchasing and shipping toys. Zakary is the drummer, Gracyn is the vocals and bassist, and Ari is the guitar player for their sibling band, Awkward Silence Band. All three siblings love music and cover music from the 70’s-early 2000’s playing gigs either by themselves or with other teen bands to fundraise for Smith Smiles Toy Donations. We have auction tables at the events and also provide a tax receipt for any financial donations. The financial donations are amazing because we can purchase the exact items the hospitals are in need of since the needs vary greatly from hospital to hospital.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.smithsmiles.org
- Instagram: @smithsmilestoydonations
- Facebook: @SmithSmilesToyDonations
- Other: Email: [email protected] Phone: 561-961-TOYS
Image Credits
Family image- @Jullian Leigh Photography