What: Ben’s Bells promotes kindness and community involvement. Each week a person who makes Tucson better is “belled.”
Last week’s recipient: Mark Aronson
Nominated by: Jon Hurtado
Why: For arranging a toy drive for Diamond Children’s Medical Center. Aronson spends many hours every November and December organizing, marketing, and coordinating a toy drive to benefit children at Diamond Children’s Medical Center over the holidays. He invests his own time and gas so that children will have a toy to make them smile during a very difficult time in the hospital, Hurtado wrote in his nomination letter. This past year, Aronson was able to get businesses in the community to sponsor toy drive drop boxes. Every year, the amount of donations tops that of the previous year to the point where multiple vehicles, including trucks, are required to get the toys to the hospital, Hurtado wrote. “Mark doesn’t stop there though. He always organizes and coordinates toy-wrapping sessions at the hospital so that after a parent chooses a toy for their child, someone is there to wrap that present,” he wrote. The value of these donations is easily in the several thousand dollars range. Aronson “is doing an incredible service to children in the hospital over the holidays, their parents and the community in general. Mark is selfless and an example to be emulated ,” Hurtado wrote.
For more information and to nominate someone: Go to bensbells.org/BellingForm to submit a name. Go to bensbells.org or call 622-1379 for more information.
