'Tots' spreads Christmas cheer
SANDPOINT — There aren't many people who do not know who Dwayne Johnson is.
Whether it's from his years as a football player, his professional wrestler career, or his many movies and acting career, Johnson is a familiar face.
And while he plays a super hero in the recent movie "Black Adam", Johnson was recently part of an effort to recognize a "real-life super hero" as part of a surprise set up by Good Morning America.
The founder of A Future Superhero and Friends, Yuri Williams had been invited to New York under the guise of talking about his charity. Williams travels the country for his nonprofit, dressing as one superhero or another to encourage and support anyone who needed it, according to GMA's website.
Williams got the idea for the nonprofit, which helps everyone from the elderly to children who are ill or who have special needs, after the death of his mother from cancer in 2009. It was at his lowest point that Williams told GMA that he came up with the idea to help others who also were at their lowest point.
He began dressing as everyone from Spider-Man, Deadpool, The Mandalorian and more — all to bring smiles and help to those in need.
And that support — that hand of friendship — has meant the world, families helped by the nonprofit told GMA officials.
"It's the things that Yuri is doing that a lot of these kids are going to remember for life," Mariana Moore told GMA.
But Williams told GMA that he receives more from those he helps than he feels he gives through A Future Superhero and Friends.
"It's just like a superhero power energy that I feel from them. You know, me going into these homes knowing that this child might not be able to see Christmas, that minute or a couple of minutes that I'm there, I just want to make it a special moment for them," Williams told GMA.
After surprising Williams at a New York diner, GMA host Michael Strahan and Johnson took the man back to the studio where they surprised him with a Black Adam costume, a hometown screening of the movie and tickets to the film's premiere.
Today's generous donations total $2,600 and were received from Local 7670 CWA and Ziply Fiber (in memory of Ryan Moore), $550; John and Susan Wall, $50; Randy and Darcy McDougall, $1,000; Paul and Nancy Thompson, $100; Pam and Rick Auletta, $200; Charles A and Tracy A Tigert, $100; Thomas C and Lynn E Rodda, $100; anonymous, $150; Donald L. and Shirley S. Moore, $100; and Jack and Shirley Parker, $200.
The donations bring the amount of donations received to date to $11,139.43.
Each year, the Sandpoint Lions set a $50,000 goal — the same as it has been in past years — to buy Christmas gifts for children living in the Lake Pend Oreille School District, from Sandpoint to Clark Fork and all points in-between.
The Lions make the most of the money by shopping bargains, and with the assistance of generous local businesses.
If you know someone, or need help yourself, the Lions are taking applications for the Toys for Tots program. Applications are available at Bonner Community Food Bank and on the door of the Lions Den.
Donations for Toys for Tots can be dropped off at the front desk at the Bonner County Daily Bee, 310 Church St., from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. You can also drop off donations at Columbia Bank’s Sandpoint branch, 414 Church St., or at the Ponderay branch, 300 Bonner Mall Way; the Ponderay Starbucks, and the Ponderay Mountain West Bank.
Donations may be mailed to the Sandpoint Lions Club, Box 414, Sandpoint, ID 83864.
Donations made by check are preferred. Be sure to include a note with your check indicating that it is a Toys for Tots donation. If you wish to make an anonymous donation, please include a note.
If the donation is being made in someone’s name, be sure to also include a note.
Information: Sandpoint Lions Club, 208-263-4118