KANSAS CITY, Mo. — One ten-year-old boy is serving up holiday cheer to raise money for patients at Children’s Mercy Hospital.
It’s been six years since Noah Phelps started selling hot chocolate outside The Learning Tree toy store in Prairie Village, although it’s technically his fifth year doing so since he took a year off during the pandemic.
“I love being able to help other kids, and some of them are younger than me, older than me, and I just love helping people who need help,” Noah said.
In addition to selling hot chocolate, he also collects and donates toys, something that gave him comfort while he was a patient at Children’s Mercy at age four.
His own story is what inspired him to start this effort.
“I had to go there because of swelling in my joints and it caused a rare infection, and then I just woke up one morning and I couldn't walk,” Noah said.
He was in a wheelchair, had surgery and healed within a week, but he knew other kids had much longer stays than he did. That’s when he talked with his father about giving back.
“We asked him if he had any ideas, and he said he wanted to do a hot chocolate stand for Children's Mercy Hospital,” said Sean Phelps, Noah's father.
From there, a tradition began. It’s something the new co-owners of The Learning Tree caught onto quickly.
“One reason why this store is such a great institution in town is because of the way it gets involved in the community,” said Brett Goodwin.
Goodwin and his husband, Alan, took over the store in November, but Goodwin’s affinity for toys is something that’s remained consistent throughout his life.
“When I was actually in middle school, I started working at a toy store, and that opportunity meant so much to me,” Goodwin said. “It’s also cool that we have this as a part of the community, and I want people from all over to enjoy it.”
Acccording to Goodwin, people already have.
“Just this morning, I’ve had people say, ‘Oh, I’m here from Raytown, oh I’m here from north of the river, I’m here from Lawrence,’ and that’s pretty great,” he said.
Most visitors stopped by Noah’s hot chocolate stand or toy donation box on their way out, including Jake Giljum, his wife and baby daughter.
“This is my first daughter, and we’re very excited to spend Christmas with her, and we realize families aren’t as lucky as us, so we wanted to give back any way we can,” Giljum said. “We actually went inside and bought a few rattlers for young children, it’s one of her favorite toys, and we bought some card games for older children.”
Other patrons, like 13-year-old Lily Payne, resonated with Children’s Mercy specifically.
“We were just walking around and decided to come in the toy store, and we saw this wonderful cause out here, and I’ve done a lot of stuff with Children’s Mercy before,” Lily said.
Lily says seeing other young people, like Noah, serve kids is inspiring.
“Everyone deserves to have toys to play with, especially if they’re in the hospital and they don’t have a lot to do. That’s a really vital part of childhood,” she said.
As far as Noah’s concerned, he says holiday cheer has no deadline.
“I’d like to try to do this as long as possible,” he said.
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