Over the last 30 years, 96-year-old Al Quattrocchi has undertaken a very special Christmas tradition.
As CBS News reported , the retired painter uses scrap wood to craft hand-made toys in his garage for children who would otherwise go without them.
That unfortunate scenario is actually one that Quattrocchi experienced often as a child.
As he grew up during the Great Depression, it wasn’t unusual for him to go through Christmas empty-handed.
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And his knowledge that many children today face similar circumstances did a lot to inspire his kind project.
After he creates his toys, they’re then distributed to children in need throughout Northern Oregon by members of various charities, including Ronald McDonald House.
As he told CBS News, there are about 18 different variations of toys Quattrocchi makes, which include fire trucks, trains, airplanes, and grasshoppers on wheels with legs that go up and down.
The time it takes to create each one varies, but those grasshoppers take the longest due to all the moving parts.
Over the last 30 years, Quattrocchi has created about 20,000 toys.
This year, however, will see the last batch of them. All good things must come to an end sometime, after all.
However, that doesn’t mean that Quattrocchi slowed down production for this tradition’s swan song.
This year alone saw him make about 500 toys for the children he described as “little angels.”
h/t: CBS News
