Bucs

The joy is in the sharing

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© St. Petersburg Times
published December 25, 2002

TAMPA -- She is 8 years old and eager to please.

Maybe that's just her way. Or perhaps it is a byproduct of living in a shelter with dozens of other abused or neglected children.

Whatever the reason, she does what she is told. So when they put her in a toy store and instructed her to get whatever she liked, she chose a doll. When they told her that was not enough, she picked out a stroller, too.

This went on for quite some time. She kept picking out toys, they kept telling her to get more. Finally, the child could wait no longer.

What's going to happen to these toys, she wanted to know.

They're yours, she was told. You're taking them home.

Yes, but then what happens?

You have never seen such a sight. Children with every reason in the world to be selfish and no understanding of how to behave that way.

"They're so used to people making them promises that they never keep," said Marcia Boone, a senior child care specialist.

"They have parents who promise to bring them things but never do. Or they promise to visit and they never show up. So when someone does something like this for them, their first reaction is, 'What do I have to do for this?' "

It is before dawn on Christmas Eve. International Plaza is empty except for the slender man in the Santa hat and the children he has delivered.

Just a few hours after leaving Raymond James Stadium after a Monday night loss to Pittsburgh, Bucs receiver Keenan McCardell directed a stretch limo to the Department of Children's Services around 6 a.m.

He picked up 10 tiny passengers and two caseworkers and headed to the mall. Along the way, he asked what the children most wanted for Christmas.

My family was the overwhelming choice.

Many of the children in the shelter are from broken homes. They typically are placed with Children's Services for 90-day emergency stays following charges of abuse or neglect or some other family crisis. When the 90 days are up, a judge reviews the situation. Often, another 90-day stay is ordered. Some children, Boone said, have been at the shelter for more than a year.

One little girl began to cry when the limo arrived at the shelter. She had been waiting days for her family to visit and was afraid she would miss them if she went to the toy store. The child care workers had to convince her she would be back at the shelter in plenty of time for a possible visit.

"Some of the things these kids go through, you and I could never survive," Boone said. "They're so strong. And they're such good kids. They just keep bouncing back. No matter what happens to them, they bounce back."

This is the crew McCardell found himself cavorting with outside KB Toys on Tuesday morning. Some sneaked peeks at the store with its closed gate, but most seemed happy to roll around with McCardell and the Bucs mascot, Captain Fear, on the plastic structures in the mall's play area.

When KB employees raised the gate around 6:45 a.m. for the private shopping spree, McCardell told the children, all 10 and under, they could spend $500 each on whatever they wanted. The actual haul was even more as KB Toys agreed to a 20 percent discount on everything but video games.

McCardell walked the aisles of the store, helping children pick out items. "Y'all didn't know spending money was such hard work," he teased.

McCardell, 32, got the idea of the shopping spree from a similar program started by former Jacksonville teammate Tony Boselli.

"People talk about the value of a dollar," McCardell said. "This is the value of a kid's smile."

The Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year representative for the Jaguars in 2000, McCardell already has made an impact in Tampa Bay. Since his arrival this summer, he has started a ticket program for disadvantaged children at Bucs home games and, last month, gave away 87 turkeys at Thanksgiving.

"I was privileged to grow up with two parents at home who provided everything I needed," said McCardell, who has three daughters of his own. "Not everybody is that lucky. I'm in a position now where I can help spread some of my happiness around. If I can do this, maybe some of these kids will help somebody else when they have the chance. That's what a community is."

After the children get over their initial shock and begin to realize what they can afford, a most amazing thing happens:

They begin Christmas shopping.

Not for themselves, but for brothers and sisters. Or aunts and uncles. Or nieces and nephews. It doesn't really matter.

For once in their lives, they are in a position of wealth. And their natural response is to share.

Stephen, who has a 15-year-old sister at the shelter, grabs a Sony PlayStation 2 from the shelf. He walks through the store, talking to no one in particular.

My sister is going to love me.

Flatbed shopping carts are brought in to haul bags and bags of toys to vans waiting outside.

The children begin thanking the toy store employees. And then Boone and child care worker Fred Copeland. Finally, with a little prodding, they walk toward McCardell. One by one, they throw their arms around him.

As one boy stands near the register, watching his items being rung up, he turns to another.

This is what heaven is going to be like.