Clinton’s smallest Samaritan aims to give big, again

Published 6:00 am Wednesday, December 17, 2014

Whidbey’s littlest philanthropist is at it again this holiday season, this time with a stuffed animal present drive.

Weston Dill, 5, has all the passion of the world’s top givers, the likes of Bill and Melinda Gates or Warren Buffett. He’s just missing the million and billion-dollar bankroll. He makes up for it with the boundless energy of a preschooler, which is exactly what he is at Wellington Day School.

“He’s always got a cause,” said his mom, Jennyrose Dill, at their Clinton home recently.

Last year, Weston was keeping homeless people in Snohomish, Skagit and Island counties warm. With the help of his parents, several businesses and the Everett Gospel Mission, he put together a warm clothing drive that brought in a few dozen jackets, scarves and gloves.

Inspiration for the stuffed animal drive this year came during a car ride. Weston heard a radio commercial about gifts for foster children, prompting him to tell his parents that he wanted to give presents to the shelter.

“Santa has a hard time finding them because they don’t have houses,” Weston said.

He’s hoping to get 40 stuffed animals, either new or gently used, to give to young children — his peers — for Christmas presents by the weekend before the holiday. Weston, himself a fan of stuffed animals and the comfort they bring him, wanted his peers living without permanent housing to have a similar experience this holiday season.

“Because I feel good with stuffed animals, and I think they’d feel good with stuffed animals,” Weston said.

“We’re gonna have a bow on them so it’s like a Christmas present,” he added.

Randy Haacke, the donor partnerships director at Everett Gospel Mission, said its two shelters serve an estimated 300 people every night and that there are an estimated 2,300 homeless men, women and children in the tri-county area.

“It’s a growing population,” Haacke said, adding that currently the mission helps about 30 children, from infant to teenage.

The number of children they serve is always in flux, he added.

One stuffed animal that won’t be gifted is “Woofie,” Weston’s favorite nighttime pal. Weston and Woofie, a stuffed dog that was purchased for him when Jennyrose was still pregnant with him, are hardly separated when it comes to sleep. Preparing for a sleepover with his cousins visiting from San Diego, Weston had to unpack Woofie to show it to The Record. Upon doing so, Weston happily pointed out that the W in the word “Woof” written on the blanket was the same letter in his name. 

“That’s a W, and that’s in my name,” he said.

Just like Weston, Haacke said the presence of a stuffed animal can be stabilizing in a homeless child’s life.

“It’s also a great sense of comfort,” he said. “Having your own possession in a place where you don’t have a lot of your own possessions is a great comfort.”

Later, he added that: “Someone coming and handing them gifts and sharing with them is a message that, ‘Hey, you matter. You deserve joy.’ ”

His mom keeps a couple of donation bins in her car and is willing to coordinate with any potential donors on pickups via her email thedillfamily@mail.com or by dropping them off at Wellington Day School, located just north of Bayview on Highway 525 at 5719 Pioneer Park Place, across from South Crawford Road. Donations of new, clean socks and underwear are needed and can be made at the shelters located at 3711 Smith Ave. or 5126 S. Second Ave. in Everett.

Weston, not entirely ready to give up on clothing homeless people, encouraged his mom to pick up a jacket anyway.

“We should get one extra coat in case we see a foster kid,” he said.