Bottomless Toy Chest Receives $10K in Chase Community Giving Contest

The votes are in, and Birmingham's Bottomless Toy Chest — a nonprofit dedicated to providing toys and crafts to children suffering from pediatric cancer — is the winner of a $10,000 grant as part of the Chase Community Giving project.

The Bottomless Toy Chest was one of 196 charities and nonprofits across the country to receive a Chase Community Giving grant; in total, the program from Chase Bank gave away $5 million in grants.

Non-profits competed for grant money by soliciting votes on Facebook between Sept. 6-19. In the end, the Bottomless Toy Chest ended up with 1,410 votes — enough for a $10,000 grant.

"I didn't think it was possible for our tiny charity to have a chance in the Chase Community Giving competition," Bottomless Toy Chest executive director and founder Mickey Guisewite wrote on Faceook Thursday, noting that a week before the contest ended, the Bottomless Toy Chest only had 87 votes.

"And then something truly magical happened," Guisewite said. "Friends started voting for us. Their friends started voting for us. Their friends and their friends and their friends started voting for us. Friends from high school. Friends from college. Friends we didn't even know we had."

"I am so very grateful to each and every one of you for taking the time to help us out. And I'm truly happy for the biggest winners of all today — the amazing, inspiring kids we serve who have cancer."

The Bottomless Toy Chest's fans also expressed their support with comments on the contest page.

"This is a great charity," William Brewster wrote. "The reason I say this is that my daughter, who is a cancer survivor, received very nice gifts from this organization while going through chemotherapy that made her day much happier. The people who volunteer are truly God's angels."

Other Metro Detroit recipients of a Chase Community Giving grant was Royal Oak's Camp Casey, the Troy-based Williams Syndrome Association and the Detroit Dog Rescue in St. Clair Shores.

To donate to the Bottomless Toy Chest or find ways to volunteer, visit www.bottomlesstoychest.org.