INDIAN RIVER COUNTY – Most everyone remembers the joy of receiving toys on Christmas morning as a child. But for kids and youth in foster care, of the joys and blessings of childhood are few and far between. Children’s Home Society of Florida Treasure Coast Division (CHS) wants to ensure that every child in its foster care and adoption programs receives at least one new toy this holiday season. CHS is pleased to announce its ninth annual Holiday Toy Drive, designed to provide toys to 600 abused, neglected or abandoned children – infant through age 23 – in St. Lucie, Martin, Indian River and Okeechobee counties.
The community can contribute by becoming a Giving Angel sponsor. Businesses, corporations, medical offices, libraries, supermarkets, high school classes, Girls or Boy Scout Troops or any individual committed to collecting new toys or being a drop-off point are invited to participate. CHS will work with Giving Angels to help facilitate collection of all donated toys and ensure delivery to the children in time for Christmas. Sponsors to-date include Becker Holding and the Community Church in Vero Beach.
New, unwrapped toys, including gift cards for the young adults ages l8-23 who are “aging out” of foster care are requested. Tax-deductible donations would also be greatly appreciated. Dolls, scooter, trucks, board games, and a slew of stuffed animals were among the more than 2,000 toys collected through last year’s Holiday Toy Drive.
Created in 1902 as a Jacksonville orphanage, Children’s Home Society of Florida is the oldest and largest statewide private not-for-profit provider of services to children and families in Florida.
Information: Call Dee Benjamin at (772) 489-5601 ext. 261 or Sharon Lear at (772) 489-5601 x 245.