On December 16, 2019, HeartCore Business quarterbacked a shopping extravaganza for the Toys For Tots Foundation in San Diego. HeartCore Business had raised over 34,000 dollars for this worthy cause. Instead of giving the organization a check, they purchased 2,657 toys at the Walmart in Encinitas, CA.

Spearheaded by Founder Shanda Sumpter, 35 of HeartCore employees and their families gathered at the store and filled 60 carts. Four local Marines collected the toys and put them in a truck to be distributed to tens of thousands of children across San Diego County and throughout the Toys For Tots program.

HeartCore Business is a San Diego-based entrepreneurial training company founded by Shanda Sumpter. I interviewed Shanda Sumpter onsite at the Walmart in Encinitas.

Interview Questions by Sheryl Aronson
Responses by Shanda Sumpter

Shanda, please tell everyone the name of your organization and what are you doing today at Walmart.

My company is called HeartCore Business and we have been raising money for the past two years for Toys For Tots where we actually buy the toys. I am a Christmas fanatic. I can’t imagine any child not having a gift on Christmas. So my organization does our part to make sure this doesn’t happen.

How did you raise this money?

We have an event every year called the Zone Event. We have an auction to raise money and people also donate money over that.

How much money did you raise? The truck looks like it will be packed.

We ended up spending over 34,000 on the toys.

Where are the toys going?

To all the little kids from Toys For Tots. Some of the people from our team will actually go to the center and wrap the presents to hand out in person.

Your team went inside the Walmart and actually did the shopping.

Yes. It’s one thing to give money … it’s fantastic, it’s a great level of leadership to give, but to actually go to the next level and get your hands dirty and pick out gifts … that’s what we’re striving for. I cried three times while I was picking out these gifts because I was touched so deeply.

Are you a Mom?

I am a Mom of a four-year old.

Talk more about your organization HeartCore and what you do doing the year.

We help entrepreneurs build businesses on the internet and do digital marketing. The base level is helping people find customers and clients. From there, we help them monetize their efforts on a greater scale.

Where can people find out more about your business?

Right now social media is the best way because we’re actually live. That’s the cool thing about digital marketing these days, it’s not just a website. But you can go to HeartCore Business website or go to Facebook under HeartCore Business or find me (Shanda Sunpter) on Instagram. 

Is there anything else you’d like to say about today?

It’s nice you’re here bringing more awareness to the cause. But the truth is if no one was here, I would still show up with my family to buy toys and donate them to the kids. My message is to look up.

Especially during the holidays. We want to be giving. We want to be kind and considerate. Thank you so much. The truck is now a quarter full but with all these toys, the truck will be full to the brim. There will be some very happy children.

I want to thank everyone who came out today to support our cause. Yeah! We did it!