HUGHESTOWN, LUZERNE CO. (WOLF) \u2014 A Luzerne County toddler is among the top remaining contestants in a national competition that supports the Marine Toys for Tots Foundation.<\/p>\n
Jesaiah, of Hughestown, has advanced to the quarterfinal round of the 2026 Toddler of the Year competition after placing among the top 1% of children participating nationwide, according to his family.<\/p>\n
In addition to recognizing young contestants, the competition raises money for the Marine Toys for Tots Foundation, which supports the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots Program by providing toys to children in need during the holiday season.<\/p>\n
The overall winner of the competition will receive a $25,000 cash prize and appear in a national advertising campaign.<\/p>\n
Quarterfinal voting begins July 27 and continues through Aug. 6. Organizers say all vote totals will reset at the start of the round, and only the first-place finisher in each group will advance to the semifinals.<\/p>\n
Jesaiah’s mother, Jessly Guzman, said the family has been encouraged by the support they’ve received from friends, relatives and members of the Hughestown and greater Luzerne County community throughout the competition.<\/p>\n
“We’re incredibly grateful for everyone who has supported Jesaiah so far,” Guzman said. “It’s exciting to see him represent our community while also helping bring attention to a cause that benefits children in need.”<\/p>\n
More information about the competition, including voting details, is available at toddleroftheyear.org.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"HUGHESTOWN, LUZERNE CO. (WOLF) \u2014 A Luzerne County toddler is among the top remaining contestants in a national…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":251792,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[178,180,179],"class_list":["post-251791","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-scranton","tag-scranton","tag-scranton-headlines","tag-scranton-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251791","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=251791"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251791\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/251792"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=251791"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=251791"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=251791"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}