Clay County kids get early Christmas

CLAY COUNTY, Fla. – In a few short days, many children will be making that early morning mad dash to the Christmas tree, but there are many kids who won't get the chance to enjoy the seeing lots of presents under their tree because their families can't afford it.

For 32 years the J.P. Hall Children's Charities in Clay County has held a Christmas party to benefit underprivileged children.

One by one, Clay County kids got to meet Santa before getting presents at the J.P. Hall Christmas party.

Thousands of toys separated by age group were given out to hundreds of children at the Clay County fairgrounds. Some parents had been waiting in line since Friday morning, trying to make sure that their kids were able to get whatever toys they wanted.

Last week firefighters from Clay County restored many of the bikes so that they were able to be ridden as soon as they picked them out.

Leon Moore is thrilled his daughter was one of the lucky kids able to get one of the bikes. He can't wait to see her riding it around on Christmas morning.

"She'll love it. She will be happy. If she is happy, I'm happy, Moore said.

The thousands of toys given out were donated by companies and people in Clay County.

Virginia Hall helps organize the more than 200 volunteers that help this event go off without a hitch, and she is thankful that so many people continue to be a part of the event each year.

"It's just so heartwarming, and it just really touches people to give back to our community," Hall said.