Troy and Cheyenne Valvo, 11-year-old twins, pose in front of their neighborhood Christmas light display. (Mike Valvo)
The Los Angeles County Fire Department, with assistance from KABC-TV, Toys for Tots, and Southern California firefighters, is hosting its 28th annual Spark of Love Toy Drive online this year due to the pandemic. That means Troy and Cheyenne will use the money they collect to purchase gifts through an online registry.
The siblings have raised about $2,200 so far this year – compared to their $2,000 total last season. Mike Valvo said his children took a break this week for a family vacation but will collect money again Monday and Tuesday – stopping in time before Christmas Eve to register for gifts. On average, he said the twins can collect about $200-250 a night.
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Members of the public who wish to make comment to the Board of Directors of the William S. Hart Joint School Financing Authority are invited to submit written comments by email to wshpubliccomments@hartdistrict.org no later than 4:00 p.m., December 16. Please reference Joint School Financing Authority in the title of the email and limit comments to a maximum of two minutes when read aloud. Under the requirements of State law, the Board cannot take action on items not identified on the agenda and will not make decisions on such matters.
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Santa Clarita 11-Year-Old Twins Collect Donations, Toys For Children In Need
A pair of Santa Clarita siblings have dedicated themselves to making the holiday season a little bit brighter for other children, offering candy canes in return for donations.
11-year-old twins Troy and Cheyenne Valvo have taken it upon themselves to collect any monetary donations in return for handing out free candy canes in order to donate toys to local fire stations for children in need.
“We just like doing it for fun, and doing it because we always get gifts at Christmas, but sometimes other kids don’t,” said Cheyenne.
Each year since they can remember, Troy and Cheyenne Valvo have passed out candy canes during Homestead Holiday, a traditional Christmas display put on by their Saugus neighborhood.
The neighborhood, which is usually a stop on Santa Clarita Transit’s Holiday Lights Tour, sees thousands of visitors each year.
For the last five years, the 11-year-olds, who began passing out the candy canes with a neighbor for fun, have taken it upon themselves to collect monetary donations while doing so in the hopes of collecting enough to purchase toys to donate to the local fire station, who then give them to local families in need.