CBS News:

The holidays bring out Americans’ philanthropic impulses. That may be an understatement for Carol Suchman.

Suchman told CBS MoneyWatch that she often buys birthday gifts for children in the foster system, and so always is on the lookout for toy stores. When she recently walked by a toy store in her West Village neighborhood in Manhattan that had closed down, she said she was inspired to take action.

“The toys in there looked so sad, and they were gathering dust,” she said. “It occurred to me we should bring those toys to where they should be going — to all the homeless kids in the city.”

As a kid, my mom had to use these social services on several occasions to make sure we had one or two toys under our Christmas tree. You might be surprised how important these kinds of gifts are to children in need at this time of year. Reading stories like this brings a tear to my eye and almost reaffirms my faith in humanity. Almost.