Here's what you need to know about top Jacksonville, Clay County Christmas toy giveaways
Every year about this time, a convention hall in Jacksonville and a fairgrounds building in Clay County are filled with toys, bicycles and other gifts, as if Santa Claus had a local outlet.
But the stashing of presents at the two sites is locally organized by volunteers. Their mission is to give needy children in their respective communities the kind of joyful Christmas they might not have otherwise.
They are the 25th annual Children’s Christmas Party of Jacksonville on Dec. 9 and the 42nd annual J.P. Hall Charities Christmas Party in Clay County on Dec. 16. Between them, the two events will serve an estimated 6,200 children.
Here are the details:
Who gets the gifts?
The Jacksonville party is open to local children ages 12 and younger. As many as 5,000 children are expected, and distribution is on a first come, first served basis. Each child who attends will receive several tickets to be used to choose their own new, unwrapped toys, plus a bag full of novelty toys.
About 450 "wheeled" items such as bikes, scooters, wagons and riding toys also will be distributed randomly throughout the morning. Each bike winner will receive a free helmet.
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The Clay event is for children through age 14 who live in the county. About 1,200 children are expected; each child will receive three or four gifts and there should be enough bicycles for every child to receive one.
At both events, admission and parking is free and no identification or registration is required. Children must be present to receive gifts.
When and where are the toy giveaways?
Doors open at 9 a.m. Saturday at the Jacksonville event, which will run through noon or as soon as all the toys are distributed. The location is the Prime Osborn Convention Center, 1000 Water St. downtown.
For safety reasons, people will not be allowed to wait or camp in the main convention center parking lot the night before the event. The lot will open at daylight Saturday.
The Clay event runs 9 a.m. to noon Dec. 16, also a Saturday, at the Clay County Fairgrounds, 2463 Florida 16 West, Green Cove Springs. Toys will be distributed on a drive-thru basis: No one needs to get out of their vehicle.
Clay organizers strongly discourage people from camping at the fairgrounds the night before because there will be plenty of toys to go around.
Who runs the Children's Christmas Party of Jacksonville?
Diane Halverson is executive director of the party in Jacksonville, which was founded in December 1999 by local philanthropists Travis and Margaret Storey. The 25th anniversary "is a real milestone," said Halverson, who started out as a volunteer the second year.
"We have this pretty much 'down to a science,'" she said. "It is a labor of love, and out of love comes caring and out of caring comes hard work and out of hard work comes a wonderful event that our community can be proud of and grateful for."
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Who is J.P. Hall?
The late businessman J.P. Hall Jr. founded the Clay County charity in the 1970s and the party in 1981 in honor of his father, a longtime local sheriff. The younger Hall's daughter, Virginia Hall, took the reins after her father.
But this year, Hall is handing over lead party-planning duties to her attorney son, J.P. Steinmetz, who grew up with his siblings all helping out.
Succeeding his mother and grandfather is "an honor and a privilege," he said, "and a great responsibility."
Will Santa Claus be there?
Yes, Santa is to make appearances at both events.
How do I donate or get more information?
Christmas Party of Jacksonville: (904) 350-1616; christmaspartyofjax@comcast.net; ccpoj.org.
J.P. Hall Children's Charities: (904) 860-8739; jphallcharities.org.
bcravey@jacksonville.com, (904) 359-4109
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Early Christmas: Needy Jacksonville, Clay children to get toys, bikes
