Tyler donates toys to Rialto Fire for fourth year

Rialto Unified School District student Tyler Nguyen donated over 300 toys to the Rialto Fire Department on Saturday, December 15.

The effort was in conjunction with ABC7’s Spark of Love Toy Drive.

“This is Tyler’s fourth year collecting toys. He created a menu, my sisters Tiffany and Wendy and other family members helped me cook. Tyler’s friends, our family, neighbors and even co-workers came to donate a toy,” said Tyler’s mother, Stephanie Nguyen.

Toy donors were treated to a plate or two of homemade Vietnamese cuisine.

“Rialto Fire Department came out to the event and they even brought their engine and parked it in the front yard. Every year Tyler is so excited to see the fire department and they reciprocated the same feelings,” continued Nguyen.

Not only did Rialto Fire Department show up to the event, Rialto Police Department brought dozens of toys, too.

When asking Nguyen what inspires her family to give back, she replied, “Coming from a family that’s from Vietnam…a long time ago our family came over here and we received a lot of assistance from the community. We have been the kids that did not get toys. My son is 12 and we are teaching him the importance of giving back.”

Nguyen expressed that her son loves to help others and she believes in giving back as much as she can.

“Although Tyler is so involved with this charitable donation…he doesn’t really like all of the attention. He’s a simple, selfless kid. He didn’t even want to do this interview,” Nguyen said.

In 2014, Tyler was awarded six congressional awards from the California State Congress.

Not only does Tyler undertake this initiative every year, he is also a volunteer at the Rialto Senior Center.

Nguyen shared that one special fact regarding Tyler is his name. His Vietnamese name is Phuoc-hau, which means to give back.

“We’re trying to expose him to what’s outside of school. It makes me so proud to see how passionate he is about this. We try to get him involved in the community to teach him that there’s people out there who need assistance,” concluded Nguyen.