COCOA BEACH, Fla. – Some of Central Florida’s least fortunate children won’t be forgotten this Christmas.
Since 2015, Brevard County hosts what the sheriff calls a reverse Christmas parade.
Monday, the sheriff’s office and local police departments led motorcades in nine locations across the county including in downtown Cocoa Beach where locals know it’s the holidays again when the Kelly Slater statue gets decorated.
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The tradition of the parade works like this:
Instead of people on the parade giving out things to those in the crowd, it’s the people who line the route themselves giving new, unwrapped toys to law enforcement and they in turn give those toys to kids before Christmas.
Danielle Collingsworth who works at the Love Your Smile dentist office along the route said she felt wonderful to participate.
”I didn’t get to last year, so we’re so happy as a business to get to do it this year,” Collingsworth said. “It’s amazing and we’re so excited to be able to give a child something that they’re lacking,” she said.Sheriff Wayne Ivey walked the parade route collecting toys from individuals and businesses.
Sheriff Wayne Ivey has called the parade one of his favorite holiday events each year.
“It gets our entire county involved collecting toys for kids,” Ivey said. “We want everybody to have a great Christmas morning. That’s our goal.”
The sheriff told News 6 reporter James Sparvero that thousands of toys were collected in a large trailer being towed along the parade routes.
”I always tell everybody it takes a community to protect a community, and this is a perfect example of it,” Ivey said. “It’s not always about just protecting somebody from being a victim of crime. It’s about protecting those that sometimes need a little help.”
The traditional Christmas parade in downtown Cocoa Beach will be Saturday, Dec. 14, and then the biggest Christmas party every year in Cocoa Beach will be the annual Surfing Santas event at Coconuts on the Beach.
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