Mother & Son Deliver Big for Chamber Toy Drive
ABOVE: Cameron Liu with Master Chris Kim at Champions Martial Arts.
BY JESSICA MEDITZ
Despite his small stature, eight-year-old Cameron Liu has a heart bigger than the average adult. He and his mother, Cassandra Louie, spent the month of December collecting items for the Queens Chamber of Commerce’s annual Holiday Toy Drive. Cameron said he started spreading holiday cheer through the help of his mom, donating his gently used toys to charities every year around his birthday.
“My mom is my Santa,” said Cameron. “We’ve discussed that Santa’s not real,” said Louie. “And then we talked about how there are kids and families who don’t have as much as we do and how we can support them.”
Louie said when she and Cameron began looking into how they could support the local community, they sought out an organization that focuses on providing genuine support to the people of Queens. Since they’re in partnership with the Child Center of New York, Louie felt the Queens Chamber of Commerce was the perfect fit.
“They are thinking about local businesses, especially during this time in our lives when we want to think about how we can support our communities,” said Louie.
With Louie being a full-time employee at NYU and Cameron in school, it can be challenging for them to find free time to achieve their goals. But they’re extremely thankful for the support and encouragement from the Queens Chamber of Commerce and the small businesses that have served as donation sites for the toy drive. Cameron and his mom have collected close to 300 toys via the drop-off boxes at Centre Pizza and Champions Martial Arts in Little Neck.
“We want to thank the extreme generosity of the families at Champions Martial Arts for 200-plus toys that we have been fortunate enough to collect,” said Louie. “Over 90 percent of those toys have come from that single place.”
In the spirit of the holiday season, Cameron and his mom want to share the overall message of generosity, and how sharing your good fortune can not only make you feel good, but the person you’re sharing it with too.
“I’m happy that I get to share my toys with them,” added Cameron. “I think it makes them feel good.”
