The approaching holiday season is, for many, a time filled with family, cheer and celebration. However, for those who are missing a loved one, the holidays can be a difficult time.
This holiday season, and for many holiday seasons past, UT employee Roger McDonald has been coping with the loss of his nephew while simultaneously working to give back to his community with an annual toy drive.
11 years ago, 15-year-old Central High School student and Roger McDonald’s nephew Ryan McDonald was shot and killed at his school over a disagreement pertaining to unknown circumstances with a fellow student. Ryan suffered from alopecia, a condition which causes hair to fall out, and he was frequently bullied because of this condition.
Ryan’s killer, who was also 15 at the time of the murder, plead guilty to second-degree murder and was sentenced to 30 years behind bars.
Roger McDonald expressed that he found the entire situation to be unjust.
“The system basically killed both of these children,” McDonald said.
According to McDonald, Ryan was often forced to put on a tough face to deal with bullies, although in reality, he was the sweetest and most loving child.
“He was a kindhearted child, loving, always wanting to hug you—sometimes so hug-able and cling-able you’d get sick of it sometimes, and we miss him dearly,” McDonald said.
After the tragedy of Ryan’s death, the McDonald family decided they wanted to help other children in the Knoxville area.
“After that happened, we were trying to deal with it, and at some point we decided that we needed to try to do something to help out kids kind of like Ryan,” McDonald.
McDonald learned of a toy drive started in honor of Johnia Berry, a former East Tennessee State University Student who was murdered in her Knoxville apartment in 2004. The drive was organized by her mother, Joan Berry, and benefited the families who visited the Helen Ross McNabb Center, a not-for-profit behavioral health center.
Ryan, who grew up in a low-income area of Knoxville, happened to be a client at the center.
McDonald became involved with the Johnia Berry drive, and when Joan Berry was no longer able to organize the drive for the McNabb Center, McDonald took over the project in Ryan’s name.
The Johnia Berry toy drive is still organized annually in other regions of East Tennessee and surrounding states.
McDonald, who works in UT’s Facilities Services, connected with the UT Institute of Agriculture (UTIA) to organize the toy drive. After word about the drive spread, an employee at UTIA then connected McDonald with the family of Colt Jones.
Jones was a 15-year-old student at Lenoir City High School who died in 2012 after being severely bullied. After learning about the toy drive, Jones’ family wanted Colt to be remembered alongside another teenager who died after suffering from bullying.
Thus, the Ryan McDonald and Colt Jones Memorial Toy Drive was born, honoring the two late teenagers.
McDonald has partnered with UTIA for around a decade to collects toys on campus. This year, the drive began on Nov. 13 and will run though Dec. 9. Collection boxes are set up around the Agriculture campus; a complete list of locations is available online. To donate, please bring a new, unwrapped toy.
After the toys are donated, McDonald takes the gifts to the Helen Ross McNabb Center. The center then sets the toys up in their gym, separating them by age group, and holds an event for low-income families and children to come select toys.
With every holiday season, the drive’s collections continue to grow, and for the past four years, the drive has collected around 800 toys each year. About one third of the toys are donated by UTIA employees.
Donations from the 2015 Ryan McDonald and Colt Jones Memorial Toy Drive.
Carrera Romanini, the Communication Coordinator for UT Agriculture Research, has also served as the coordinator of the toy drive for around eight years. Each year, she organizes the event, arranging collection boxes and coordinating with other UTIA employees, who she calls her “elves,” to insure that everyone remembers the drive.
She said that the toy drive has become a staple part of the Ag campus.
“Everybody’s really excited about the toy drive every year, and it’s just something that we’ve kind of known to be a tradition for us now,” Romanini said. “It’s to the point that when I put the flyers out for the toy drive, we have toys coming in the very next day.”
Romanini discussed the value of the toy drive for Ryan and Colt’s families.
“To be able to help a family who suffered such a devastating loss I think is really amazing,” Romanini said.
McDonald continues to be amazed each year by the growing turnout for the drive. He expressed his gratitude for everyone who contributes to the project, and he emphasized the importance of every small donation.
“I know everybody can’t do a toy drive, but if everybody can do a little something or donate a toy, can you imagine what we could do? If everybody just did a little something,” McDonald said.
