The Lee Anne Newkirk Foundation
Carrying forward a mother’s generosity.
The Lee Anne Newkirk Foundation brings toys, joy, and hope to children and families facing difficult circumstances. Our first program, Fill the Rooms, is being built for children spending Christmas in the hospital.
Why we started this →Why we exist
This started with one family’s hardest Christmas.
When Lee Anne Newkirk's son Evan was hospitalized one Christmas, toys donated by strangers helped make that day feel like Christmas anyway — and she spent years afterward paying that forward.
After Lee passed away, her family chose to continue that generosity — and build something able to grow beyond what one person could do alone.
Read her full story“Fill the rooms with toys, joy and hope.”
Fill the Rooms — our first program
Fill the Rooms
Fill the Rooms is The Lee Anne Newkirk Foundation's first program: a Christmas toy drive for children and teens who have to spend the holiday in the hospital instead of at home.
The Lee Anne Newkirk Foundation is developing its inaugural Pensacola-area campaign and intends to coordinate with local pediatric care professionals, including those at Studer Family Children's Hospital at Ascension Sacred Heart, as those conversations continue. Fill the Rooms is not yet affiliated with, or endorsed by, any hospital — we'll update this page the moment that changes.
Toys are collected
Community members and local businesses donate new, unused, unwrapped toys at collection locations as they're announced.
Fill the Rooms sorts them
Volunteers sort and organize donations by age group, so every gift matches a real child's stage of life — not just a general pile of toys.
Gaps are filled
Where donations run short in a given age group — teenagers especially — the foundation works to fill in the gaps so every child gets more than one gift to open.
Hospital-approved distribution
Gifts are delivered through a process coordinated with hospital staff, so they reach children safely and appropriately. We're building this process now, alongside our hospital conversations.
Get involved
There’s a place for you in this.
Donate toys
Drop off a new, unused, unwrapped toy at a collection location once this year's campaign is confirmed.
See collection locations →Give financially
Financial gifts help fill the gaps toy donations can't — especially for teenagers.
Go to Donate →Volunteer your time
Help sort toys, staff a collection location, or support distribution day. No experience necessary.
Sign up to volunteer →Help us build our first Christmas campaign.
We’re new, and we’re building this in the open — toy by toy, hour by hour, dollar by dollar.