Child victims of Henryville tornado receive toy donations

It was a Christmas in July, a celebration much deserved.  Thousands of toys are being donated to children who lost everything in the tornado the rolled through Henryville back in March.

Fox 59's Joe LePage shows us that the toys are giving a big boost to children, hit hard by the major storm.

"There is just no words to express so much love and gratitude for it," said Trish Gilles, a tornado survivor.

After losing everything in the tornado that ripped through Henryville, Gilles and her family are getting a little more of their lives back.

The Pacers, the Fever and the Indiana National Guard teamed up to provide toys for the children of families hardest hit by the tornado. In a true sign of teamwork, an assembly line loaded up the more than 14,000 toys set to head south.

"The kids do not get as much attention on it and for someone to stop and think about something like that, it just means so much," said Gilles.  "It makes us feel like we are family."

With Pacers mascot Boomer leading the way with a little help from Pacers Coach Frank Vogel and Fever Coach Lin Dunn, Colin and Mia Gilles got to pick whatever toy they wanted.  For these two children, it was a special day.

"It is so amazing to have all of this," said Colin Gilles.

Some toys are headed to Henryville, others will be stored in Indianapolis.  They will be sent to the Henryville area as they are needed.

"It is amazing because we lost all of our toys and now we are getting them back," said Mia Gilles.

The Gilles family’s new house is almost built. The family said they will be able to move into their new place in about 4 weeks.