PEMBROKE PARK, Fla. – A children’s choir was up before sunrise in Kendall when Santa Claus rang the bell and Local 10 News Anchor Eric Yutzy got to work with Sgt. Javier Ruiz, of the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots.
Mayte Padron, WPLG-TV’s community relations director, charted a map with nine stops for the magical Big Bus Toy Express. Another children’s choir waited with a retired U.S. Marine with a big heart in Doral.
After a journey east, a cellist played to angelic voices under the shade of a Christmas tree at Bayfront Marketplace. The bus headed north to Aventura where a clarinetist played “Santa Claus Is Coming To Town.”
After crossing the Miami-Dade-Broward boundary, Yutzy handed over the microphone to Betty Davis, the Local 10 News Weather Authority chief meteorologist in Coral Springs.
The Knights of Columbus had hundreds of toys in Plantation, and Santa Claus and the Grinch worked together with Local 10 News Meteorologist Julie Durda in Davie.
After the Big Bus Toy Express completed stops in Hollywood and Pembroke Pines, Padron reported there were about 13,000 more unwrapped toys that Toys for Tots will deliver to over 400 organizations that serve children in need in South Florida.