Princess Anne Volunteer Fire Company headed out to deliver presents to the Sells family
Gifts upon gifts stacked upon each other in this trailer; a shipment of holiday joy heading out to Baltimore for children in need.
If this is Santa's sleigh, his elves look a bit different dressed up as crew members of the Princess Anne Volunteer Fire company, taking the reins to deliver this holiday cheer.
Fire Chief Rondell Redding tells us that their annual toys for tots fundraiser has taken quite the turn.
Chief Redding states, "When December the 6th hit, we had a tragic incident here in Princess Anne. It inspired us to take our toy drive a little bit further. We wanted to do something for the Sells family and then we wanted to take it a little bit further for victims of domestic violence and those who are going to be in the hospital this Christmas."
The Sells family were victims of domestic violence, a violent attack just weeks before the holidays.
The mother, Arielle Sells, passed away on December 12th, 2016 and her two children are in critical but stable condition.
Chief Tim Bozman of the Princess Anne Police Department tells 47 ABC that all the first responders that had to go to that call that night ended up going to a horrible scene as they walked in to see the victims in that kind of state. Bozman says that tends to affect you.
Chief Bozman was moved to be one of the twenty volunteers who made the two hour drive to hand deliver these gifts.
The fundraiser started as Princess Anne challenging local fire departments to donate toys. And from the local fire departments they sent out a challenge to other businesses in the area.
It escalated so quickly, that it even received national attention. The outpouring of gifts has been so tremendous it has filled an entire room.
And by about 10 a.m., Santa's helpers were off and they could not be more thankful for the community support.
The outpouring has been so great, the fire company is planning a special event this weekend.
On Christmas Eve, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., they are inviting children up to the age of 13 to come to the fire station.
They will be able to take a picture with Santa then walk through Santa's workshop and choose a toy.
