WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - It was a gift-giving bonanza in West Palm Beach today at the annual Torrey’s Toy Land.
The event is hosted by Mothers Against Murderers Association, otherwise known as MAMA and many of the children who received gifts today have been victimized by area gun violence, losing brothers, fathers, sisters and mothers.
Torrey’s Toy Drive is named after Torrey Manuel, a 29-year-old man who was killed in 2003 by a senseless act of violence, according MAMA’s website.
Manuel’s death also inspired the founding of MAMA.
“Some of these kids? This is the only thing they will get for Christmas,” said MAMA founder, Angela Williams. “We let the kids come inside. We made it Torrey’s Toy Land. So they get to come inside and choose their gifts and get stuffed animals and candy bags and just have an awesome time.”
More than 15 MAMA volunteers and some West Palm Beach Police Dept. officers handed out more than 3,000 gifts to more than 500 children during the event.
A lot of those gifts hand wrapped by the founder herself. “I put in so many hours. I stayed here until like 2 in the morning, wrapping these gifts for these kids,” Williams told Contact 5’s Merris Badcock. “But it is important because some of these kids have [experienced] violence, so it’s important to give these children a smile on their faces.”
The toys were donated through Toys For Tots and friends. MAMA also had raffles for gift baskets and bicycles.
You can learn more about MAMA by visiting their website:
