US Girl Helps Other Children in Need

Ashlee's Toy Closet aids youngsters hit by disaster

March 29, 2011

Ashlee Smith, 12, provides donations to children of disaster through her charity, Ashlee's Toy Closet.

Several years ago, when firefighter Mark Smith returned home after battling a blaze in a neighboring community, he showed his family pictures he’d taken of burnt toys inside the destroyed houses. For his 8-year-old daughter Ashlee, the images brought back memories of the fire that had destroyed their home almost two years years before.

"I knew how the kids felt," she says. "I went to my Mom and told her what I wanted to do."

Ashlee decided to collect replacement toys for the young fire victims. Her mother wasn't sure it was a good idea.

A thank you letter to Ashlee

"They just lost their houses. They don’t need toys. They need clothes or somewhere to stay or food or something like that," says Ericka Smith. "She said, ‘What’s the most important thing to kids?’"

So, with her mother’s support, Ashlee collected toys and delivered them to the fire’s young victims.

"Then she said, ‘OK what’s next?'" her mother recalls. "I was like, ‘What? What you mean? You want to keep doing this?’ She said, ‘Yep.’ She started calling everybody, calling the news stations, calling radio stations, and the response was amazing."