TOLEDO, Ohio — Caden Laney is a freshman at Toledo Public School's Pre-Medical and Health Science Academy. He's learning about Romeo & Juliet in English class right now, but soon he'll start his journey to working in psychology or cardiology.
"I know my first class I take is Intro to Med, so that's a little baseline and gets me a credential for graduating. And they offer college courses. And Junior year, I believe you get to pick a path you can go down. It's either pre-med, nursing or kinesiology," Caden said.
There's significance in Caden's choice to jump into pre-med as early as high school. He was born with a congenital heart defect and has spent a lot of time in hospitals.
"Seeing them do their job so well and to care for others has been a big inspiration on me. Not just for what I want to do, but what I feel Like I need to do," Caden said.
The future holds big goals for Caden, but he's been caring for others for years already. This is the sixth year he's hosted Toys for Tiny Heroes.
"To know that the hospital, that scary place, can even be made to seem like a home for one hour, especially during a holiday when you should be with family and celebrating and having fun, and you're stuck there," Caden said. "It's an amazing feeling to know that it can feel like home."
Caden's collected more than 10,000 toys for Promedica Russell J. Ebeid Children's Hospital, Nationwide Children's Hospital-Toledo, and C.S. Mott Children's Hospital in Ann Arbor, which stocks a "store" for parents to pick out gifts without even having to leave the hospital.
This year, Caden wants to add 3,000 more toys to the count and his fellow classmates are helping him get there.
Mercedes Fisher is a Spanish teacher at the school. She's also the Service Learning Coordinator. The school requires 30 service learning hours a year, with students taking on special projects. "It's so important that I want students to find what they feel is important to them and what they love to do," Fisher said. "When Caden came to me I was like, 'Oh my Gosh, yes, we have to do this and I'm so proud of his classmates who are helping make his service learning project and his dream for Toys for Tiny Heroes to be a success."
Caden will be collecting toys until Dec. 10. "Oh it's a lot of toys we have collected over the years and to just see the community care so much about others, not even themselves. It's, it's really. It leaves me speechless," Caden said.
You can drop off donations at the following locations:
- TPS Pre Med at 3301 Upton Avenue in west Toledo
- Main Street Trading Post at 113 S Main Street, Swanton
- St. Richards Catholic Church and School at 333 Brookside Drive, Swanton
- Friends for Life at 1910 Indian Wood Cir. Suite 100, Maumee
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