TAMPA, Fla. — Hundreds of families got in the Christmas spirit at the annual Joy of Giving event, complete with a parade, gift giveaways and activities for the kids.
“It’s awesome. Being that I have five kids, it helps. It helps a lot," said Kearston Hardy.
She brought her children to the celebration at Sligh Middle Magnet School not only to pick out toys but, “I’m grateful for just the extra help they give. The kids can just come out and have fun and just enjoy the day. Before Christmas.”
WWE superstar Titus O'Neil helped to grow the event to the size it currently is. Now in its 10th year, thousands of gifts are given out -- a huge growth from year one, which saw just over 200 gifts.
O'Neil is thrilled to see the growth and understands what this event can mean to families.
“At 12 years old, I got a really nice remote control car. And a woman came and presented it to me and said, 'I got this gift for you because I wanted you to have a really nice gift.' And that was the only thing I got for Christmas that year. And I kept that car until my junior year in college," O'Neil explained. "The only reason that I don’t have that car to this day, to be able to show you and everybody else is because my college roommate came home drunk from a wild night out.
"And, you know, thinking back on it, that’s probably the night that my WWE career started."
But O'Neil hopes to give families more than just toys.
"That is why we saying ‘Joy of Giving hope,’ with the hopes that we can give hopes to those that give and those that are receiving," O'Neil said.
His hope spread quickly: Hardy's son decided to pick a gift out for his little sister, rather than keep one for himself.
“My son actually got a hoverboard for his sister," Hardy said. He didn’t actually get anything for himself. So I thought that was nice."
At today’s event, toys were not the only thing given out. Dozens of bikes were distributed. And four deserving, pre-selected families received new cars to help with work and school commutes.
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