THE GREAT VENICE TOY DRIVE IS UNDERWAY!!!

The Great Venice Toy Drive & Holiday Festival, a project of the Venice Neighborhood Council (“VNC”), Vera Davis McClendon Youth and Family Center (“Vera Davis”), and the City of Los Angeles, has begun! The Great Venice Toy Drive & Holiday Festival is a two-part holiday event for Venice stakeholders. The first part is the toy drive. VNC and Vera Davis will collect new, unwrapped, non-violent toys at various locations in Venice fromNovember 14, 2014 through December 18, 2014. Then, on Saturday December 20, 2014, the VNC and Vera Davis will give the toys away to local kids, during a fun-filled day at Oakwood Recreation Center.

(1) Abbot’s Habit, 1401 Abbot Kinney Blvd.; (2) Burning Torch, 1627 Abbot Kinney Blvd.; (3) HUZZAH!, 2010 Lincoln Blvd.; (4) Lincoln & Rose Holiday Pop-Up Gift Shop, 315 Lincoln Blvd.; (5) Oscar’s Cerveteca, 523 Rose Ave.; (6) Superba Food & Bread, 1900 Lincoln Blvd.; (7) Venice Admiral Suites, 29 Navy St.; (8)Venice Breeze Suites, 2 Breeze Ave.; (9) Venice Suites, 417 Ocean Front Walk; (10) the VNC booth at theVenice Farmers’ Market (Fridays from 7:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.), intersection of Venice Blvd. and Venice Way; and (11) the VNC’s Board meeting on December 15, 2014, Westminster Elementary School, 1010 Abbot Kinney Blvd.

The toy drive will then culminate in a holiday festival to be held at Oakwood on December 20, 2014 from 10:00 a.m. through 2:00 p.m. At the festival, children up to sixteen years of age present with a parent or guardian will be able to select a toy. (First come, first served.) Santa will be available for photos. Kids will be able to engage in arts and crafts or play on a moon bounce or in the snow. Food will also be provided.

Interested in helping, donating, sponsoring, sharing an idea, or having a collection bin at your company/place of business? Contact thegreatvenicetoydrive@ gmail.com.