Everybody good?
Mmhmm. Yeah, me too.
My name is Joe Toles.
I am a 60 year old bachelor from Bronx, New York,
and I have six adopted sons,
and I'm working on number seven.
I grew up in the New York state foster care system.
I was placed in foster care from birth.
My foster parents were limited.
And part of their disciplinary action
was to tell us to pack our bags and sit on the steps
because they were gonna call the county
to send us back.
I was never officially adopted.
I was lucky that
I found
people in my life that I connected to.
My high school coach, for one, was a lifesaver.
He was like, I think, a father should be.
I was a good athlete, I was a good track and field runner.
I eventually got a full athletic scholarship
to Auburn University.
I was the captain of the team,
I was an NCA All American.
If it were not for my high school track coach,
sort of pointing the way for me to go,
and making me believe that I had those possibilities,
I don't know where I would be today.
I have thought about having children forever.
I met somebody from You Gotta Believe,
an adoption agency whose purpose
is to find homes for older children.
And then they introduced me to my oldest, Xavier.
I adopted him at age 18.
Almost every year after that, I kept adding a kid.
Adoption is, it doesn't really start until
you live together, and it'll continue
to go on, and I think for me,
where it changed everything for me,
was knowing that he wasn't there to hurt me.
More so to guide me.
And for me to understand what a family really is.
And he helped me to become the father that I am now.
I was adopted at the age of 14.
I didn't like to ask for help too much before I met him,
and now I know when I need it,
I have someone who's there to help.
I wanna say that I love him
to death,
and I don't know how my life,
or what my life would be without him.
Every time he's adopted a kid,
he takes them as they are,
and just gives them the tools they need
to grow, get better, be more independent.
He never tried to change you.
It's been about a year since my dad adopted me.
He has been a great support,
and he believed in me when no others would.
I was very happy to know that
somebody actually cares,
and somebody actually supports me,
and not only just supports me,
but loves me at the same time.
And I thank him for everything that he's done for me.
My kids are my heart.
And
I cannot imagine what my life would be
without them.
They know this
about me.
How do I give them everything that I know?
So that they can hear my voice when I'm not here.
(soft piano music)
That's overwhelming.
It's like I don't...
This is like, it's
the most precious gift
that anybody could have.
Please welcome Joe Toles and his sons,
Xavier, Creemel, Jonathan, Jhon, Ronny, Kamren, and Cinsere.
(applause)
Joe!
He's the coolest.
Who's the coolest?
We brought in Al and his wife, Sheila,
the man that changed your life is here.
Where are you guys?
(applause)
(laughing)
(applause)
That's like grandpa!
(applause)
The next surprise is we're gonna send
all the brothers and dad off to this really cool place,
it's called the Kartrite Resort and Indoor Water Park.
It looks like so much fun,
I wish I could go there.
It's New York's biggest indoor water park,
it has five star dining room,
a relaxing spa,
plenty of activities for kids at any age and adults.
That's gonna be super fun,
so thank you to our friends at Kartrite
for putting that all together for all of these guys.
We have one more surprise.
Al obviously taught you a lot about
the importance of education.
We want to help you get a college fund going for these guys.
So CommonBond is donating 20,000 dollars
to your children's college fund.
Whoo!
A giant check, Joe!
Look at that!
Big check!
(applause)
(twinkling)