Hundreds of children in Leflore County received early Christmas presents over the weekend thanks to successful toy drives.
Two of those drives — one organized by a Greenwood restaurateur and her daughter and another by the Browning Progressive Civic League — gave more than 800 toys combined, according to the organizers.
“It was just really nice,” said Denetrice Gray of the drive she organized with her daughter, Tia, and held at Greenwood High School. More than 600 children picked up toys Sunday.
So many items were donated that a charter bus had to be used to transport them to the school, Denetrice Gray said. Even after Sunday’s distribution, there were still toys left over that were donated Monday morning, she added.
Tia Gray, an actress who lives in Atlanta, helped organize the toy drive with her charity, January Love.
Other people and community organizations, such as the Greenwood-Itta Bena Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc., Troy Brown Jr. and the Omega Psi Phi fraternity, La’Junius catering and Dr. Pamela Gary with Central Mississippi Inc. also provided donations, Denetrice Gray said.
The children were very excited and took pictures with Santa Claus in addition to picking up their toys, she said. One person, who wished to remain anonymous, even provided an envelope full of money to one family.
Though Sunday’s toy distribution left Denetrice Gray tired — she worked from 8:30 a.m. until just after 4 p.m. — she said she and her daughter plan to make it a yearly event.
Earlier this year, Denetrice Gray gave out boxed meals from Greenwood Market Place out of her restaurant, Tasty Sipz, for Thanksgiving. She said she has more community events planned for the future.
The day before the Grays’ event, the Browning Progressive Civic League held a toy drive at the Robert Moore building on Carrollton Avenue. Over 250 toys were donated as well as 100 bags of candy, said Niqua Graham-Brooks, the president of the civic league. “We just wanted to help the families during Christmastime and the pandemic,” she said.
Seeing the joy on children’s faces was priceless, she said: “I wish I could go back and replay the entire day and see the amazing smiles and the ‘ahs’ and the ‘oohs’ and the appreciation from the children. Their faces showed us a lot.”
Graham-Brooks said the civic league would like to hold a toy drive each Christmas season.
• Contact Gerard Edic at 581-7239 or gedic@gwcommonwealth.com.
