Malia Riggs
Elmore/Autauga News
PRATTVILLE – The ninth annual toy drive hosted by Bo Evans Realty is alive and well this holiday season in Prattville. You are invited to take part and bring a big smile to a child at Children’s Hospital.
The toy drive goes through Dec. 12th and benefits the Children’s Hospital of Alabama in Birmingham. Any new and unwrapped toy, for any gender or age, will be accepted at 1137 E. Main St. in Prattville.
Bo Evans Realty, owned by Bo and Punkin Evans, has been in business in Prattville since 1992, and this is their ninth year hosting the toy drive which goes directly from Bo Evans Realty’s office straight to the Children’s Hospital of Alabama, which is classified as one of the best Children’s Hospitals in the country.
“I don’t remember what brought me to do it. The Children’s Hospital has always been a special place in Alabama, and people are very generous during this time of year. There’s Toys for Tots and other really good charities that you can go to,” Evans said. But he would rather make sure the toys get there himself from the generous donations from our area.
Evans stated said that for the last nine years, he has dressed as Santa to deliver the toys. He delivers them on Dec. 13, which is also his birthday.
“It’s my birthday gift to me to go up there, and it has been wildly successful. Every year we see more and more toys. It’s one of those things that gives you a good feeling. I never used to tell them who I was when I went, I (just) dress up like Santa Claus and hand out toys,” Evans said.
Throughout the Children’s Hospital during the holidays, every single child in the building gets a toy. Whether it be a patient, the patient’s brother or sister or a visiting child.
The Children’s Hospital gets money donations that go towards supplying toys for children during the holiday season. However, Evan’s explained that when a cash donation is made, that takes away a staff member to get the toys. Evans said that is why it was imperative for his drive to supply the toys to the hospital.
When asked about his favorite memory delivering toys Evans recalls the second or third year of the drive.
“At that point Santa Claus was in their lobby and Santa’s Workshop that was displayed in the lobby was completely out of toys. They literally just gave away the last toy,” Evans said.
“They were scrambling trying to figure out what they were going to do next. Then we showed up with $1,000 worth of toys. They were eternally grateful and pushed for me to tell them who I was. I never cared about it, I just wanted to make sure that they got to where they were going. If I could leave them anonymously I would,” Evans said.
Every toy is hand delivered by Evans and his team and every toy gets into the hands of a child in need.
“We’d like to have a bigger year than last year, and last year was our biggest year yet. I never count but we had a pickup truck full, including the backseat and side seat. It took us 30 minutes to unload them,” Evans said.
The Bo Evans Realty office is open from 9 a.m.- 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and accepts toys through Dec. 12th. All toys can be delivered to the Bo Evans Realty office at 1137 E. Main St. in Prattville.
