Christmas reached a new plateau of brightness and brilliance for the children of Aguila because of the generous donations of toys and clothing from people in Sun City.

When Sun City residents were asked by the Sun City Posse and Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office officials to participate in this year’s “Mission of Joy” toy and clothing drive for the children of Aquila they didn’t just drop off a few items, but lots of exciting stuff. Every day, bags of toys and items of clothing were left at the Posse headquarters and once again the generosity of Sun City residents turned out to be an amazing Christmas for the youngsters.

For the past few years, the Sun City Posse has helped sponsor the Christmas drive for the nearly 160 students in Aguila. The community is nearly 70 miles from Sun City. It is a small community with about 800 residents. The percentage of people living in poverty is more than 60 percent.

Sun City Posse Lt. Toni Ashby, left, oversees the loading of toys and clothing for the Agila community following the joint Posse MCSO collection …

For years, Posse volunteers have privately been donating to Aguila, but a few years ago the Posse opened the “Mission of Joy” toy and clothing drive to neighbors in Sun City and the program multiplied in size. With faultless dedication and unwavering commitment to helping others, Sun City residents gave with open hearts and a willing spirit and their efforts paid off. 

“What a major undertaking,” Marc Fuller, 2022 Posse commander, said. “We were so impressed with the efforts of our friends and neighbors who, through their donations, made a difference to youngsters they will never know or meet. But more importantly, our neighbors, the residents of Sun City, once again will make Christmas special for youngsters miles from their homes.”

During the past few weeks, the Posse headquarters’ hallway was filled with dolls and stuffed toys, cars, books and games and lots of new clothes; and once school starts, the Aguila students will be sporting new T-shirts, sweatshirts, blouses and pants.

This is not the first-time Posse members helped Aguila. In the past members also promoted a back-to-school drive that saw them turning over many boxes of supplies to MCSO to be delivered to Aguila. Residents are now asked to think ahead to next summer and fall and the annual school supply drive. Perhaps some groups, including golf leagues or social/service groups, will want to get together and drop off papers and pencils, notebooks and tablets in the spirit of giving, Fuller said.