Support Yayo's Toy Foundation: Bring Joy to Children in Need

Hello, my name is Sean Malessa and I, along with my friend Jalen Barber-Shepperson, started Yayo’s Toy Foundation in memory of my grandfather Ulrich “Yayo” Malessa.

My grandfather immigrated to the US during WW2 as a young adult and with the help of friends, family and strangers he was able to secure his freedom.

Growing up, he was who I looked up to the most. He was a very quiet man, but through his actions, he always showed that it was important to help out a fellow person whenever you’re in a position to.

I know it’s a clichè, but I saw him literally give the shirt off his back on more than one occasion and I strive to be as good as him some day.

Since he is no longer here, I thought that creating a toy foundation in his name would be a great way to honor him as he loved the togetherness the holidays bring and always worked to get our friends and family something they could unwrap during this time of year.

Privately, I’ve been donating to Toys for Tots for several years. I’d walk into toy stores when they used to have donation boxes in the front and fill it up to whatever my wallet would allow me at the time.

Last year we were able to raise over $3000 in cash and toy donations that were sent to House of Ruth, a shelter for domestic violence victims with children.

I would love for us to build upon the success of the past couple years and I’m asking YOU and anybody else you’d like to share this with that anything as little as $1 towards a toy can make a world of difference to a child in need.

I assure you, this will make you feel like a kid on Christmas Day.

PS. I do all the shopping for toys personally and I encourage donators to leave a comment with what they’d like their donation to go towards so I can show you what you bought! ☺️