by Ryan Needle
What does it look like to brighten up Brevard County by giving away toys to those who might not have had much under their Christmas Trees?
Toys for Kids Brevard completed their 2023 toy drive, culminating in their giveaway, held at Azan Shriners Center in Eau Gallie. This year we saw 2,500 registrations!
Community raises support for kids at Christmas
Timmy Vee, Space Coast radio personality and DJ, has worked for years to make sure kids have something under their tree for the Holidays. Timmy’s nonprofit, Toys For Kids, works to provide toys and gifts to the children of families in need, and every year, companies across Brevard County Florida support their efforts with fundraising.
“I started Toys for Kids in 1995 because I felt that there was a huge need in Brevard County,” Timmy Vee, founder of Toys for Kids shared with us. “I was doing a radio Morning show and we were getting tons of calls asking where they could get help for the holidays.”
Toys for Kids is an all-volunteer nonprofit organization in Brevard County dedicated to providing holiday gifts to underprivileged children in our community.
Their annual event, the Toy Pick Up, all happens online. Their website opens for registration just after Thanksgiving, and then a week or two later, families across Brevard all come to the toy pickup event.
This year, pick up is on December 13 at Azan Shriners Center, on Eau Gallie Blvd in Melbourne.
Since 1995, Toys for Kids has distributed toys to over 155,000 children. Donations stay in our area, and they work to make sure families in need aren’t turned away.
Sponsor their work. Reach more kids.
We count on support from Toys for Kids fundraising events, sponsors and individuals so we can continue to put smiles on children’s faces come Christmas morning.
The biggest part, outside of helping families have Christmas, is the bond that has developed with my main team. Every single one of them loves doing this program. From raising money to spending it on helping families. It has become part of our lives. —Timmy Vee
Visit their site to become a sponsor or contact Timmy at brevardtoysforkids@gmail.com.
Building their site
For the past ten years, Longbow has been managing their website and how families register using the popular Event service, EventBrite.
“Eventbrite gives Toys for Kids the tools they need to better manage registration.” said Eric Needle, Longbow’s founder. “Day of their event, it helps their team check everyone in, right from their phone or tablets.”
We work all year raising money to do what we do in December. None of it would mean anything if we couldn’t get the Toys to the families. Lots of websites and sign-ups need to be working without any issue at all; one problem, and things get messy. Finding Longbow has been our greatest support team to date. They keep our site and sign-up programs up to date and working perfectly. Eric and his team are amazing and we are lucky to have them. —Timmy Vee
For more information, visit their site at https://toysforkidsbrevard.com/