Sheriff's Office Announces Holiday Toy Drive

NEWS RELEASE 17-248 - NOVEMBER 30, 2017

Holiday Toy Drive Revised2

Sheriff Tom Knight is pleased to announce the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office is hosting a holiday toy drive benefitting the 12th Judicial Circuit of Florida’s Guardian ad Litem program.

There are currently more than 1,500 children from throughout Sarasota, Manatee and Charlotte counties who have been removed from their homes due to abuse or neglect and as such, appointed a Guardian ad Litem. Because the children range in age from newborn to 18 years old with varying personal needs, the sheriff’s office has chosen to focus the holiday initiative solely on toys and gift cards. Citizens are asked to refrain from donating clothing or stuffed animals and to make sure all donations are new and unwrapped. The initiative begins Friday, December 1 and continues until Friday, December 15. Citizens can deliver donations to the agency’s headquarters located at 6010 Cattleridge Blvd., Sarasota, every day between 7:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m.

“Although our personnel give back every day throughout the year, this is a special time for us to really get involved,” said Sheriff Tom Knight. “Now that we are in our new headquarters with improved public access and a lobby to officially call our own, we are very pleased to launch this initiative and really make this a special holiday for deserving children in our community.”