BOUNTIFUL—Jennifer Bassarear has long been involved in helping in the community. Over the past 35+ years as a State Farm Insurance agent, she’s been an integral part of many projects involving youth groups, athletic programs and non-profit organizations. When her father John moved to Bountiful from St. George in 2013, she introduced him to Alton Thacker, toymaker and founder of Tiny Tim’s Foundation for Kids. It was an instant match.

This month, Bassarear was one of just 100 State Farm agents nationwide to receive a 100 For Good Champion Award, for which she was allowed to make a $5,000 donation to a non-profit of her choice. And her choice was an easy one.

“My dad worked with Tiny Tim’s from 2015 to 2019,” she said. “It was perfect for him. No one under 80 years old works at the factory. They have a true assembly line operation – one guy takes pieces of leftover wood, one guy traces a car pattern, one guy cuts out wheel holes and windows, and one guy makes the wheels.” From there, Tiny Tim’s assembles wooden toy cars given to children in need around the world.

“As my dad used to joke, they work with worn out wood, worn out men, and sometimes men with nothing to do since in some cases they are incarcerated,” she said. “They just made their one millionth car!”

“When we started this community service organization, all we could see were kids getting toys. Now we see that the people who make the toys benefit just as much if not more,” Thacker said. “This grant will help us make 2,500 toys – that’s 2,500 smiles for kids and over 10,000 smiles among our volunteer community.”

Emilee Johnson, Alton’s granddaughter and the Foundation’s Executive Director, said, “We have built a great community of people at Tiny Tim’s Foundation for Kids, who love to come not just to make toys, but be among friends. This $5,000 State Farm grant is a great blessing to us and will help further our work, our humanitarian efforts and our relationships. Thank you, Jennifer.”

“John was a hero – not just for making toys for kids, but from the very beginning,” Thacker added. “He was a WWII Veteran, a survivor of the Battle of the Bulge, and although he was visually impaired, it didn't stop him from becoming our quality control person. He could tell if a car was perfect just by the feel. One day he said, ‘I love coming here because nobody gives me any guff.’”

“Tiny Tim’s Foundation for Kids means a great deal to me personally and continues to make such a positive impact in the lives of so many,” Bassarear said.  λ