BATON ROUGE - There were dozens of families receiving gifts, clothes and food during the "Sleigh N' Play Toy Giveaway" on Sunday.District 5 Councilman Darryl Hurst and the United Cajun Navy teamed up to bring Christmas to kids and adults."Whether you're a child, parent, or guardian, everybody has the opportunity to leave with something," Hurst said.Both Hurst and United Cajun Navy President Todd Terrell say this event was to make a difference in people's lives and to help those who are less fortunate."A lot of kids don't have the opportunities like some of us had growing up. In today's society, there's a lot of grandparents raising grandchildren, a lot of single parents, a lot of special needs. So a lot of kids don't have the same opportunity. The good thing is we're giving every kid an opportunity to have a Christmas and be happy," Terrell said. Children enjoyed food, took pictures with Santa, decorated ornaments and picked out toys. Some kids volunteering at the event said they enjoyed giving back to others that attended. "I just like giving people toys. I'll probably have to get myself one too," Arthur Griffin said."I feel good that I'm helping them out so they can get more things," Arianna Griffin said. Children who were on the receiving end said the event felt like Christmas."I feel good, I'm happy that I got a free present. I really do feel like it's Christmas," Kynahdi Wagner said."I like it because without them, I wasn't going to have anything for Christmas," Zariel Hutchinson said. Hurst and Terrell made sure to spread joy to everyone, including adults who were able to pick out winter clothes, blankets and hats. "It's not just a toy giveaway today. Every kid has to have someone bringing them to this event. We also want to make sure that they have jackets and coats too. We wanted to make it an event for everyone," Terrell said.Permalink| Comments