North Pinellas News

This December, children will have a brighter Christmas in Gordon County thanks to AdventHealth Gordon’s Emergency Medical Services (EMS) team through its Make a Kid Smile Toy Drive.

AdventHealth Gordon EMS collected toys and raised money for their drive, totaling two truckloads in toy donations for children in Gordon County. Cash donations are still being accepted for this year’s drive, which benefits families through the Voluntary Action Center (VAC) of Calhoun, providing families with clothing, toys and a grocery gift card for each family for its annual Operation Happy Christmas campaign.

AdventHealth Gordon EMS ambulance shift captain and Make a Kid Smile Toy Drive organizer Mark Bramblett said that he enjoys this project each year and is grateful for every person who helped make this year’s drive a success, even during a time of higher costs to families due to inflation.

“As a team, we kept reminding ourselves that God has this, and we just needed to be faithful and be diligent in our work. And He surely has shined through once again as we have met the goals we set before we started, and we are still collecting money. Any bump in the road we encountered just smoothed out for us as well,” said Bramblett.

This year’s drive saw an increase in new donor participation as well as returning donors from previous years. Many additional AdventHealth team members also participated in the drive and expressed a desire to bring joy to local children.

“I just want every child to be happy and to get something for Christmas. I know that Christmas is not really about presents, but to a child it is. I don't want any child to go without presents. That is why I do this,” said Bramblett

All toys collected through the annual drive were delivered to the Voluntary Action Center (VAC) to distribute to qualifying families in Gordon County.

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