For many children, one of the great joys of the seasons comes from under the Christmas tree or beside the Hanukkah menorah, where presents await.
This time of year can also be stressful for families struggling to fund holiday shopping. In Alachua County, organizations work to make the season joyful for these families. Donation boxes pop up throughout the county when December rolls around, and events such as on-site toy drives begin lining calendars.
Here are a few organizations operating toy drives in Alachua County this year.
Operation Save Christmas
In 2016, The North Central Florida Apartment Association began Operation Christmas Drive. The event, which runs from Nov. 1 to Dec. 15, allows apartment complexes to set up donation boxes that can be filled with unwrapped gifts by residents.
Apartment complexes can make their own donation box or request one from NCFAA. The drive is run by Anyse Medwedeff, owner of Two Men and a Truck, a moving and packing service.
“Every kid deserves to have a merry Christmas,” Madwedeff said. “We’ve got the boxes, we have moving trucks, we have manpower. So it just kind of made sense.”
In nine years, the drive has gone from 10 boxes donated a year to 50. NCFAA also works with the Salvation Army Angel Tree program. Residents can request an angel to give specific gifts using the NCFAA’s website. Medwedeff said 100 Angels are adopted by NCFAA members a year.
Angel Tree
The Salvation Army Angel Tree operation helps children get personalized gifts from their wish list.
Over 2 million families received holiday assistance from the Salvation Army last year, and over 1 million children had presents under their tree from the Angel Tree program according to the Salvation Army.
Residents can adopt an Angel in Gainesville at two Walmart locations. Stores in north Gainesville at 5700 NW 23rd St. and East Gainesville 1800 NE 12th Ave. both have Christmas trees inside.
The tree is covered in tags to select. On the tags are the Angels’ names, ages, genders and Christmas wish lists. Customers can shop in Walmart and buy those gifts for their Angel. After their purchase, Walmart will keep the items to deliver to the Angels.
Toys for Tots
The United States Marine Corps Reserve has a country-wide Toys for Tots collection boxes. Alachua County’s Toy for Tots serves Alachua, Dixie, Levy and Gilchrist counties. Boxes are set up at around 140 locations in Alachua county.
Last year, Alachua and Tri-County helped 4,400 children. Alachua’s Toy for Tots works with City Light Church to process the toys. After Thanksgiving, the volunteers start separating around 40,000 toys and make a bag for each family. They give gifts to children up to age 12.
On top of all the donated goods, they ensure that every family gets a board game, a sporting good and every child receives a book.
“We’d love to give out more, but we need to find where the needs at, and then we need to find the finances to meet that need as well,” Dennis Wait, coordinator of Alachua County Toys for Tots said.
Wait participated in his first Toys for Tots in 1996 as a Corporal in Salt Lake City. He’s worked as a coordinator for the program in Alachua County for the last six years. He said his main ask to the community is to help bring smiles to kids.
St. Phillips Lodge 55 Toy Drive
At Wilson Robinson Pavillion Park in Archer, a toy drive event – complete with face painting and train rides – will be held Dec. 20 at 2 p.m. at nonprofit St. Phillips Lodge 55.
When the drive started 25 years ago, the organization brought gifts to bedridden children in the hospital.
Now, it partners with Gainesville Fire Rescue, Alachua County Fire, Alachua County Sheriff's Office, the city of Archer and several local churches to make the event possible.
Alachua County citizens and organizations make donations throughout the year, but all donations are given to kids on the day of the event. Each year, the nonprofit donates up to 200 bikes every year. The organization tries to get electronics like TVs, gaming systems and iPads.
“Archer, seemingly, is one of the more underserved communities, and so we like to stay right there and make sure that the residents have plenty of gifts for the kids,” Caleb Young, president of the drive, said.
Young said they aim to have every child leave with a toy.
Contact Teia Williams at twilliams@alligator.org Follow her on X @teia_williams.
Teia is a general assignment reporter for Metro. She is also a second semester journalism transfer student from Daytona State College and served as Editor-in-Chief for In Motion, DSC's student newspaper. When she's not writing, Teia can be found reading, going to concerts, at the beach and talking about her favorite artists.
