Mom has collected 350,000 toys for needy kids (source: Chicago Sun Times)

The way Michelle Maxia sees it, you have two choices when things get tough. “You’re either gonna focus on the problem, or engage in the solution,” says Maxia, of Orland Park. “I am about solutions.” One of her answers to life’s inequities is an Orland Park warehouse filled with new and slightly used toys. In a year and a half, Maxia, 45, has distributed more than 350,000 toys to not-for-profit groups. Those groups gave the toys to thousands of needy children. Puzzles, dolls, video-game systems, plastic kitchen setups — all have paused to be polished and, if needed, repaired on their way from one child’s hands to another’s. Click here to read full story.