Echo Toy Run is on!
Published 11:52 am Wednesday, November 25, 2020
- Amanda Silvani, along with her daughters, Mya Sanchez, 9, Jocelyn Silvani, 11, and Gracie Silvani, 3, stand in front of laundry bins overflowing with toys during the 2019 Echo Toy Run at Good Shepherd Medical Center in Hermiston. The 17th annual event, held in honor of Silvani's father, Al Sells, is Dec. 5.
ECHO — The Echo Toy Run was begun by Al Sells, who organized the event for 15 years until his death in 2019 in a motorcycle crash. The event has been carried on in his name by friends and family for the past two years. The 17th annual event will begin Saturday, Dec. 5, at noon in downtown Echo and continue to Good Shepherd Medical Center, 610 N.W. 11th St., Hermiston.
All motorcyclists, and drivers of other vehicles interested in participating, are encouraged to bring a new unwrapped toy in its original packaging, or packaged so it can be wiped down and sanitized, to the event. Participants will then join a vehicle parade to the hospital.
Once arriving at Good Shepherd, participants are asked to wear masks and not gather for group photos, and that 6 feet of distance is maintained while toys are placed in the bins. Organizers request no cash donations.
The toys collected during the annual toy run are distributed by the hospital to children undergoing treatment. Extra toys are donated to the Hermiston Police Department.
For more information, call or text Amanda Silvani at 541-720-9304.
