Initiative to benefit children and youth up to age 18 in three programs
During its Eighth Annual Holiday Toy Drive, the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office collected almost 1,800 gifts, including gift cards totaling $3,935, Sheriff Kurt A. Hoffman announced this week.
In 2023, the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Department tallied almost 2,500 gifts, including gift cards with a total value of $2,585, Hoffman reported in December of that year.
From Nov. 29 through Dec. 13 this year, Sarasota County residents, representatives of local businesses, and Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office members brought or shipped toys and gift cards to the agency to benefit children enrolled in the 12th Judicial Circuit’s Guardian Ad Litem (GAL) Program, as well children and youth served by Teen Court of Sarasota and All Star Children’s Foundation, a news release notes.
Gifts were collected both at the agency’s headquarters on Cattleridge Boulevard in Sarasota and the South County Office in Venice, the release points out.
The Toy Drive is organized for children ranging from newborns up to age 18 who reside in Sarasota, Manatee, or DeSoto counties, the release adds.
On Monday, Teen Court of Sarasota and All-Star Children’s Foundation sent representatives to the Cattleridge Boulevard headquarters to collect the gifts, the release says. Then, on Tuesday, Sheriff’s Office “personnel made the official delivery to the GAL offices in downtown Sarasota,” the release notes. “Over the next several days, guardians will select and distribute individual gifts for children under their care,” the release points out.
“Serving the children of our community by collecting and distributing Christmas gifts is always a great day at SCSO!” said Sheriff Hoffman in the release. “We’re grateful for the generosity of our community and awed by what they’re able to do for children and families in need each year.”