Here’s When Santa Will Be at This Weekend’s 911 Gives Hope for the Holidays Toy Drive

Our 13th annual 911 Gives Hope for the Holidays Toy Drive is this weekend (December 3rd, 4th, and 5th) at Walmart on Evansville's east side, and we are thrilled to announce that Santa himself will be returning this year!

Since the COVID pandemic was still raging while we conducted last year's toy drive, we thought it would be in Santa's best interest if he stayed at the North Pole. We didn't want to take any chances of him getting sick and possibly being unable to carry out his very important duty on the night of Christmas Eve. Now that things have settled a little bit, and both he and Mrs. Claus have made sure to get their COVID vaccines, the head elf will be right back where he belongs.

As we've done in previous years, we'll have Santa set up in his very own heated tent in the Walmart parking lot right next to our broadcast tent and the trailer we're hoping you will help us fill with toys once again for kids spending the holidays in area hospitals. Here's when you can stop by to see the big guy:

• Friday, December 3rd: Noon to 8:00 PM
• Saturday, December 4th: 10:00 AM to 8:00 PM
• Sunday, December 8th: 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM

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There won't be a photographer on site, so be sure to bring a camera or your phone so you can get pictures of the kids telling Santa how good they've been this year.

ABOUT 911 GIVES HOPE FOR THE HOLIDAYS

The annual 911 Gives Hope for the Holidays toy drive sponsored by Henderson Chevrolet, Buick, GMC Trucks will be hosted at the Eastside Wal-Mart December 3rd - 5th, 2021. The toys you donate will be distributed to Ascension-St. Vincent, Deaconess Gateway, Ascension-St. Vincent Warrick County, the Evansville Psychiatric Children’s Hospital, both Ronald McDonald House locations at the Ascension-St. Vincent and Deaconess Gateway campuses, ECHO Health Clinic in downtown Evansville, and Peyton Manning Children's Hospital on the Ascension-St. Vincent campus in Evansville. The hospital is the last place any child wants to be at Christmas, which is our prime motivation to make sure they have a great Christmas in spite of their circumstances.

We are accepting donations of new, unwrapped toys and cash as well. We will use the cash at various times over the weekend to shop in Wal-Mart and purchase toys for the trailer.