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WEST JORDAN — Alton Thacker remembers a little girl in Mexico whose eyes lit up when she played with a wooden toy car for the first time, giggling as she rolled the car across her stomach and marveling at the light reflecting off the car.
"When a little person gets a toy, it starts their mind," Thacker said Saturday.
Thacker felt pure joy during this experience and for 26 years he and his family have been making wooden toy cars for children around the world. Thacker and his wife Cheryl founded Tiny Tim's Foundation for Kids in 1996 with a mission of providing toys for those in need. Through purely volunteer work, their foundation has made and given toys to over a million children across the globe.
"I had no idea what we were getting ourselves into, when I saw that little girl with that car. And I saw how much joy it brought to her," Cheryl Thacker said. "We had no idea what we were going to grow to be. We just saw a need for little kids to have toys."
Cheryl Thacker said Tiny Tim's has been an eye opener and brought so much joy to her and her husband.
But now at age 87, Thacker and his wife are retiring and passing on the company to their daughter Ashley Krause and granddaughter Emilee Johnson.
"Ashley and Emilee are just, they're going to take it beyond what we ever dreamed," Cheryl Thacker said.
A retirement party was held for the Thackers Saturday, where food was served and a silent auction gave attendees the opportunity to bid on handmade crafts, wooden toys, quilts and gift baskets.
Thacker said he has known his last day was coming as he announced it a month ago, but he didn't get teary eyed until this morning when he came into the toy factory.
"My heart is up here in my throat. So I am not going to say any more, other than thank you, thank you for making this possible," Thacker said during a speech at the party.
Johnson has been involved with the toy factory since she was in high school, and helping with it over the last 26 years has made the foundation near and dear to her heart. As executive director of Tiny Tim's, she and Krause are going to keep the company going to help more children feel the joy of a toy.
If you really want to be happy, you do something for somebody else.
–Alton Thacker, Tiny Tim's Foundation for Kids
"The hardest part is knowing some day, they won't also be here. But it's an amazing legacy," Johnson said about her grandparents with tears in her eyes.
Johnson talked about how Tiny Tim's wasn't made to bring the toymakers any glory, but to provide a place for people to serve and to give toys to kids who have never had a toy before or are in need of help.
Krause said most people who visit Tiny Tim's are blown away by what it accomplishes. "People walk into this factory and the smell of wood and the feeling hits them and they are just in awe," Krause said.
She calls Tiny Tim's a "feel good mafia" because of how much good it creates. Krause said she isn't sure who gets more out of the service: those who receive the cars or those who build the cars for others.
The items sold in the silent auction were made by woodworkers from Tiny Tim's or they were donated by local businesses. All money made from the auction was donated straight to the foundation to keep its efforts going.
More than 100 people showed up to congratulate the Thackers, thank them for their service and reminisce on the positive impact the organization has made so far.
Bradley Larsen, Krause's daughter and the Thacker's granddaughter, said her first memory of Tiny Tim's was when she was 8 years old. Her family decided to forego their Christmas that year so they could travel to Mexico and give Christmas to people there.
The real fulfillment you'll find in life is doing things for other people and I think that's what Tiny Tim's is all about.
–Bradley Larsen
"It was by far one of the most amazing experiences I had ever had," Larsen said.
Because of the examples of her grandparents and family, she decided to give her coat to another little girl she met.
"I felt so good. That was something my grandfather had always said that I never understood, is how doing something for somebody else really improves your life," she said.
Larsen is grateful she gets to be part of a legacy of service and love that her grandparents started.
"The real fulfillment you'll find in life is doing things for other people and I think that's what Tiny Tim's is all about," Larsen said.
Tiny Tim's volunteer Randy Taylor helped Tiny Tim's get signed up for JustServe to increase the number of volunteers making cars.
Taylor has been volunteering at the toy factory now for two years building cars, and said it's hard to imagine how much impact Tiny Tim's has had on kids around the world.
As someone who is retired, Taylor finds that volunteering at Tiny Tim's is a good use of his time and he feels a lot of gratification doing service there. "I just love the place," he said.
Thacker plans to still come and work at the factory, as retirement for him just means he can come to work when he wants and not come in when he doesn't.
"It has been a fun ride," Thacker said. "If you really want to be happy, you do something for somebody else."
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