JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Thousands of kids in our area are on the verge of having a special Christmas thanks to the Salvation Army of Northeast Florida.
Parents were able to pick up gifts for newborns to kids aged 12 at Wednesday’s Angel Tree distribution at the Regency Square Mall.
Mother Aleesha Drolet said it was a huge relief.
“I am very thankful,” Drolet said. “It has always been difficult, I would say. I’ve been a single mom for a good while now.”
For the first time, Drolet is getting Christmas gifts for her two young sons through the Salvation Army of Northeast Florida’s Angel Tree program.
She and her family have been living in a homeless shelter for the last six months.
Another mother, Denean Clark, picked up presents for her 12-year-old son, Jack. Clark adopted Jack when he was a baby after his mother died during childbirth.
“Without this day, Christmas would look very bleak for my son,” Clark said. “It would not be a very happy time. He would be loved still, but there would not be a lot under the tree.”
Hundreds of volunteers inside the Regency Square Mall made sure the gifts of not just toys, but also clothes, diapers and even gift cards, were delivered.
Volunteer Devon Miller with JEA and the Edward Waters University men’s and women’s basketball teams said the event was “so rewarding.”
“I love the holidays and just being able to come out here and give back to the community and make sure that kids have presents to open on Christmas,” Miller said. “It is something that I truly cherish.”
EWU Women’s Basketball Coach Charmaine Wilson also took part in the event.
“It is just gratifying. We are in a position where we can help. To see our players willing to help and not forced to do so, it is just a gratifying situation for us,” Wilson said.
EWU Men’s Basketball Coach Cabral Huff said it was clearly gratifying for the families also.
“[One] mother was like, ‘They got my kids bikes!’” Huff said. “Just to see the gratification on her face that she was going to be able to give her kids something that they asked for, that is a humbling experience.”