The gift-giving spirit was in full effect at Texas Children’s Hospital’s Katy Campus as young patients received presents and well wishes as part of the fifth annual Amobi Okoye Foundation Gift Give-away.

Okoye, officials from the foundation and local officials distributed more than 100 brand new, unwrapped presents to children up to 16 years old undergoing treatment at Texas Children’s Hospital’s (TCH) newest facility.

Grace Community Church in Clear Lake donated gifts, like stuffed animals and toy trucks, for the event, which has been held at TCH in the medical center for the past four years.

Foundation administrator Henry Dibrell explained this year the main campus had an abundance of gifts, so the give-away came down to the hospital’s Katy location.

“Normally we do this at Texas Children’s downtown in the medical center … this year the medical center already had plenty,” Dibrell said. “So we said, ‘we’ll take care of the Katy hospital’ … they were very appreciative.”

The Gift Give-away sprung from Okoye’s wish to give back to the community during Christmas time through his charity organization.

“It was Amobi’s desire to help out kids who might be spending the holidays in the hospital,” Dibrell said. “We’ve just continued it here, although he’s living in Chicago now.”

Dibrell also said that this year showed that the give-away can begin expanding to multiple hospital campuses in the area.

“We’ll continue to reach out to the downtown location, but now that we see the need in Katy, we’re probably going to continue to do things there as well,” Dibrell said. “I can see us expanding to multiple hospitals.”

The Amobi Okoye Foundation was created by the former Houston Texan defensive tackle to give back to others through events like the give-away as well as initiatives such as Changing Africa through Education and Kickoff 4 Kids. Even though the NFL player has since been released by the Texans and subsequently signed by Chicago, his foundation continues its work in the Houston area.

Representatives of the Amobi Okoye Foundation gave gifts to children spending the holidays in the hospital over the holidays. Though it is the fifth year for the toy give away, this past year was the first to take place at Texas Children’s Hospital’s West Campus. Pictured are, from left: foundation board member Augustine Okoye, a representative from Texas Children’s, foundation executive director Henry Dibrell, Hope Dibrell and Amobi’s sister Chinwe Okoye.