Local organizations host toy drive for children in need

JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) - Two local organizations hosted a toy drive Saturday at Smith Wills Stadium in Jackson.

More than 20 shiny, custom-made corvettes drove at the event organized by the Grandparents Do Matter organization and the Corvette Club of Jackson, but not before dropping off boxes of toys, bicycles, and cash at the entrance, with one goal in mind: to fill up all the boxes around the field with toys for children in need this holiday season.

“During this time of the season, it’s giving. We need to give more, everybody sees how the world is today. The more we give, the more we love, and the better the world will be,” an event attender said.

Those who attended Saturday’s event are doing just that, giving back for a worthy cause.

“My family always did it real up for Christmas and it always makes me remember what a good time it was for our family,” said April Terrell. “So, I just wanted to give back to the kids who maybe can’t quite always get everything they’d like to have.”

“What we like to do with this toy drive every Christmas is to ease that financial burden,” said Anjanise George, an event organizer.

George hopes the event shines a light on grandparents raising children full-time who are lacking financial support.

“We hope the kids are excited from what the guys and girls here today have donated and are a little happy for to wake up for Christmas time,” she said. “We want every child to at least have one gift under the tree.”

The toys donated at the event will also benefit children whose parents lost their jobs, as well as kids who are homeless.

Some who donated say they know first-hand what it feels like to wake up on Christmas morning without any presents under the tree giving them all the more reason to donate.

“I picked a bicycle because when I was a kid, I couldn’t have stuff like that at one point and time, so I figured some little kid would enjoy it,” Wendell Terrell said.

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