Orange County Mayor Toy Drive 2026 launches

Fox 35 Care Force is kicking off the Orange County Mayor's Toy Drive. Very exciting for sure. It's going to be the final one for Mayor Jerry Demings as he gets ready to leave office in January. And not intentionally, but I thought I dressed like I worked at Target. Now maybe I'm dressed like Santa Claus. Mrs. Claus. That's right. There you go. David Martin joined us live this morning to talk about the Mayor's Toy Drive. Hi, David. Well, you know, the mayor had to go back to work, so regrettably, we had to say goodbye to him. But he joined us in the first two hours of our show to talk about his toy drive. Kicking off today, I've got Jane Wattrell back with us, the communications manager for the mayor. And we have a bunch of elves here popping out of the toy boxes to say hello. What's your elf name? McDoey! Okay, and your elf name? I'm... Jane, I'll just stop it there and talk to you because I don't even know what they're saying. I'm your elf name. Yeah, I don't know what my elf name is. So, big day today. Yes. We are kicking off the 16th annual... Orange County Mayor's Toy Drive runs now through December 7th. What are we trying to do overall here? Well, overall, we want to get as many toys as we can into the hands of the needy children of Orange County. Everything stays in Orange County, and we take toys from infant all the way up to teenagers. And last year, we got 13,000 toys thanks to Fox 35 and our community, so we want to beat that record. Yeah, and certainly more than 100,000 toys over the past 16 years that the toy drive has been a thing. So clearly this works. Our audience is generous and they will continue We'll continue to be so this year because the need is there, no question about it, economically. It's a rough year economically. We've been through the pandemic. We've been through other things as well, hurricanes. But this year, you know, we really want to break that record. We know people are hurting, and we are able to get this into the hands of the kids and the joy that it brings. There is a website you can go on to figure out what kinds of toys are appropriate for the age range, and that website is? OCFL.net slash toy drive. And if you go there, you'll see an interactive map. Put in your address. There are 40 sites where you can drop off toys, or you can go to the link and donate online. Those toys will be sent right to our warehouse. And you'll join us at the warehouse. I will be at the warehouse. All right, stay put. I want to pivot us for a second here and thank this wonderful quartet for providing carols for us this morning. Say hi to Jeremy James, executive producer of something called Spirit Documentary Carolers. How are you doing this morning? That's right. We're doing just great. I'm so excited. I'm in the Christmas spirit. Our documentary launches live this Sunday at noon at the West Orange 5 and 1230 showing. Grand red carpet premiere. It's so exciting. We produced a live national tour of A Christmas Carol, and then shot all the behind-the-scenes struggles and joys, and anyone who loves theater, loves music, or loves Christmas is really going to love this documentary. I love it. And if you can't go to the West Orange Theater this weekend, where else can I see it? Yes, we're going to be streaming on Amazon and other platforms. You have to follow us on Instagram. That's a Spirit Documentary at Instagram. So yeah, check that out, and we'll keep everyone posted. All right, let's reward our audience. audience for their generous donations with some music. What do you want to perform? Yes, let's do it. We're going to deck the hall. Do it. All right. The stage is yours. Deck the hall with boughs of holly. Fa la la la la la la la la. Tis the season to be jolly. Fa la la la la la la la la. Don we now our gay apparel. Fa la la la la la la la. Troll the ancient yuletide carol. Fa la la la la la la la la. See the blazing yule before us, fa-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la. Strike the harp and join the chorus, fa-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la. Follow me in merry measure, fa-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la. While I tell of yuletide treasure, fa-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la. Well, the website is ocfl.net slash toy drive for all the information you need. It runs now through December 7th. And you don't have to go in person to drop off these toys at the libraries or the parks or the fire stations. You can do it right from your computer. There's an online component. We're welcoming you to use that as well. But in person, it's kind of fun, especially when you can see elves like this at a variety of spots. Thank you for everything you've done. Elves, thank you to the quartet. It's beautiful. Jane Wattrell, thank you for joining us live. Well, we've had a great time. And we can't thank Box 35 enough. Remember, there's a Shop and Drop coming up on December 4th at the Walmart Superstore on East Colonial. So thank you, and we will see you again. It's our privilege and our honor. Thank you, Jane. Thank you, Carol, again. Amy, Danielle, and John, tis the season. We are now in it. Let's give and make it the best year yet. What do you think? Absolutely. And this event is huge. That Shop and Drop, oh, it's amazing. 13,000 toys. I know we can do better this year, David. And done. Thank you, David. Good to see you, buddy. Merry Christmas, everybody. That was fantastic. Merry Christmas. All right. Woo! All right. Woo! Woo! Woo! Woo! Woo! Woo! Woo! Woo! Woo! Woo! Woo! Woo! Woo! Woo! Woo! Woo! Woo! Woo! Woo! Woo!