Chris Judge and Mitchell Weekley, both friends of Will Wise, drove Will’s Chevy S10 truck filled with toys donated to the Will Wise Toy Drive to Marcum & Wallace Memorial Hospital last Christmas. Each year toys are delivered in memory of Will.
When asked to remark about the kind of person Will Wise was, friends and family used only kind words to describe the young man who was taken far too soon.
Wise, who was killed in a vehicle accident in 2010, is remembered as kind-hearted, gentley and friendly among other things.
When speaking with those who knew Will, one thing is clear: he had a smile that was contagious.
“He always smiled and he was always happy,” said Sandy Judge, a Wise family friend. “He had a way of making other people smile, too.”
Judge said this is what makes her feel so dedicated to a cause that has offered hundreds of toys to Estill County children who need an extra reason to smile.
She and several others from the community have worked diligently since losing Will to donate toys to sick children around the holidays each year.
Judge said the Will Wise Toy Drive, now in it’s third year, was started as a way to remember Will and for those who cared about him to still feel close to him during the holidays.
The toy drive is also meant to bring a little cheer to the children at Marcum & Wallace Memorial Hospital.
Judge said these donated toys, no matter how small, always bring smiles to faces of the children. She said each of these smiles reminds her of Will.
Juedg’s son, Chris, and Will were friends in school and she has been close with Will’s parents, Bill and Dixie Wise, for many years.
This relationship to the family and other community events Judge is involved in lead to her involvement with the charity.
She and winners of the Miss Estill County CommUNITY pageant, of which she is the director, have helped with the toy drive since it began just after Will’s passing.
“Dixie wanted to start the toy drive in Will’s honor,” she said. “She asked if the girls from the pageant might be able to help.”
Judge said she was on board from the beginning.
She said at first she often wondered why the family chose this particular charity to honor their son and brother.
She has come to realize the charity has allowed those still mourning WIll’s loss to feel closer to him.
“I think the reason they chose to donate Christmas gifts is because of the holiday’s correlation with Christ,” she said. “Will is still alive with Christ and we always remain close to him through this.”
She also said it’s evident that Will’s memory lives on each time the volunteers see a smile spread across a sick child’s face.
“This is a way to see him still make people smile even though he’s not here,” she said.
Each year volunteers begin collecting money and donations of new toys to fill Will’s Chevy S10 truck. The truck will be driven by a friend or family-member of Will’s up to the hospital where volunteers will unload the toys and make an official donation to MWMH.
The volunteers are able to visit with those children who are in the hospital when the toys are dropped off.
Judge said actually being there when the toys are handed over is the most rewarding part of working with the charity.
“It’s a very emotional experience,” she said. “But, it’s beautiful. You really feel Will there.”
20-year-old Mitchell Weekley was friends with Will from the time the boys began sixth grade together. He has worked with the charity each year since it began because he said he wants to honor his friend.
“It’s a good way to honor Will,” he said. “I wanted to try to help make something good out of something bad that happened.”
He also recalled Will’s kindness and remarked that if the roles had been reverse, “Will would do the same for me.”
He said Will was “kind and caring” and they kind of guy who could “make my worst day into my best day.”
Ultimately, the volunteers, as Weekley said, want to help out children who are less fortunate.
Volunteers recently set a road block and raised $771 to purchase toys and batteries for the children.
Donations will still be taken until Nov. 30. The toys will be donated the morning of Dec. 1.
The charity excepts monetary donation as well as donation of new toys.
Judge stressed the importance of donating toys that are still in the packaging to ensure they are sanitary when donate to the charity.
There are toy drop off boxes at the Christian Worship Center and the River Drive Christian Church.
Those interested in donating may contact Judge at 859-248-4018.