Catara Moore still rides the Christmas present bought for her last year in the Post-Gazette's Goodfellows toy drive.

Darrell Sapp, Post-Gazette Michael Moore with his 2-year-old daughter, Catara Moore. Click photo for larger image.

Catara, who turned 2 on Thanksgiving, received a pink plastic tricycle that she could push as she was learning to walk. Now, a year later, she is riding her trike, even though her feet don't yet reach the pedals. She loves it when her parents push her around.

"It was pretty special," said Catara's father, Michael Moore, 24, of the Hill District. "It felt good to give her something, for her to have something that special. We probably haven't got the funds to do something like that."

Catara's parents are truly members of the working poor.

Michael Moore works as a hotel houseman and steward. His wife, Candie Moore, 21, is studying at Duff's Business Institute to be a medical technician. The family receives food stamps. Catara and Candie Moore are on state-provided health insurance.

The Moores have big plans for their family. Once Candie is out of school and working, Michael wants to go back to school. His dream is to become a psychiatrist, he said.

First they want to move from Bentley Drive, which Candie Moore said is not a neighborhood in which she wants to raise her daughter.

"I don't want her to be raised like I was," she said. Candie Moore grew up in the Hill with a single mother who worked in the Pittsburgh Public Schools.

She said they would like to settle in East Liberty.

The Moores' love story started suddenly and has grown ever since.

The couple met in March 2002. He had planned to move to California, but they found out she was pregnant that spring.

Michael Moore changed his plans. He stayed with Candie, doing the chores when she was sick. Catara arrived early because Candie, who had previously been diagnosed with Crohn's disease, suffered from preeclampsia, a pregnancy disorder that caused her blood pressure to rise. Doctors decided that to protect the mother they had to deliver the child.

Catara Moore was born Nov. 25, 2002, and came home on Thanksgiving Day, three days later. Her father proposed to her mother on Valentine's Day 2003. They were married on March 20, 2003, a year to the day after they met. Candie Moore said she didn't know her husband well when she got pregnant, but she truly loves him now that they are a family.

Though she would like more children, the two have decided that right now, while they are still young, one is enough.

Even though she is attending school and raising her daughter, Candie Moore is also president of the parents council of Families Focused on Children, a case management agency that provides assistance for families with young children.

The 37 families enrolled in the program have a total of 54 children.

Families Focused on Children received boxes of toys from the Marines Toys for Tots program based in North Versailles. Donations to Goodfellows are used by the Marines to purchase toys.

Parents enrolled in Families Focused on Children can choose toys from boxes that are stacked at the agency's office in the Hill House. The boxes look like portable toy store shelves. Dora the Explorer dolls are in with Elmo dolls, Uno card games and Disney's My First Princess Spin 'n Sparkle Ariel dolls.

Kerry Mihlik, executive director of Families Focused on Children, said the toys can spare families the heartbreaking choice between paying the utility bills or buying Christmas presents for their children.

"These parents are scraping paycheck to paycheck," she said.

Tax-deductible contributions from generous Post-Gazette readers will help ensure that every boy and girl receives a toy this holiday season.

Every contribution, large and small, is acknowledged in the newspaper.

You can donate using the coupon on this page, or make a donation online by visiting www.post-gazette.com/pgcharities.

Today's Total	$5,461.00
Season's Total	$86,395.66
The Wilding Family	$1,000.00
Anonymous	$300.00
Kathleen M. Herzog	$200.00
Janet M. Fawcett	$200.00
Nancy, Bernie, Cayla, Sheba, Shammy and Scooter Zurowski	$200.00
John and Anne Simon	$200.00
In Memory of Army Favorite, Our GoodFellow	$200.00
Jean Straub	$200.00
David Wardoclip	$200.00
Bev Honchorek	$150.00
Schaeffer Lawrence	$150.00
The Corral Family	$150.00
Amy L. Thomson	$100.00
Fran and Bob Modrak	$100.00
Dennis and Susan Friday	$100.00
Keegan, Charley, Jamie and Leah Bonnet	$100.00
Anonymous	$100.00
In Memory of Larry Rizzo	$100.00
In Memory of Robert Huggins	$100.00
His Daughters, In Loving Memory of Fred Manko	$100.00
In Memory of Bob Thomas	$100.00
In Honor of St.Clair Hospital OPSU Volunteers	$50.00
Ingrid Hancock	$50.00
Jim Metzger	$50.00
In Memory of Alice Shafer	$50.00
John and Norma Melvin	$50.00
In Honor of William G. Heiner	$50.00
Paul and Sandy Kiefer	$50.00
Anonymous	$50.00
Jon and Cathy Cowles	$50.00
In Memory of August C. Mann	$50.00
June Ferguson	$50.00
In Memory of Dusty and Daisy Bailey	$50.00
Ruth Rowbottom	$50.00
Michael and Patricia Romzy	$50.00
Lori Bailey	$25.00
Bill and Karen Joos	$25.00
Bill and Bonnie Bendgen	$25.00
In Memory of Russell Huff	$25.00
Mary Nagle	$25.00
Anonymous	$25.00
Jean DiCola	$25.00
The Malloys	$25.00
John and Jacqueline McCormack	$25.00
Carl & Janie Straub	$25.00
Stephen Beleznay	$25.00
Susan Woomer	$25.00
In Memory of Donovan Sanks	$25.00
George and Ruth Ayres	$25.00
Scott Miller	$25.00
Tina Farine	$25.00
S.M. Davies	$25.00
Anonymous	$25.00
The Chambers Family	$25.00
Mr. & Mrs. Charles Johnson	$25.00
In Honor of our grandparents from Andrew and Corine McDevitt	$25.00
William Poellot	$25.00
Elizabeth Askin	$25.00
Big Mar	$10.00
Anonymous	$10.00
Kathleen Braunegg	$10.00
Andrea Kuchta	$10.00
Patricia O'Brien	$10.00
Yvonne Penkrot	$10.00
Gabriella Owens-DeMarco	$8.00
Anonymous	$8.00
Allie and Mike Green	$5.00
James Farrell III	$5.00
Anonymous	$5.00
Sara J. Golden	$5.00
Anonymous	$5.00
Anonymous	$5.00
Frank Milletary	$5.00
Laurie Curry	$5.00
Donald Budzinski	$5.00
Anonymous	$5.00
E. Rosenberg	$5.00
Joan Ordons	$5.00