By: Linda Santacruz
It all started seven years ago when Douglas Heizer, former president of Boca Rotary Sunset, was watching the news. Wayne Barton came on asking for toy donations to give to the needy children of Boca Raton. Right after, Heizer decided to give him a call.
“Hey, how can I help?” Heizer recalled saying.
It was then that Heizer made a promise to Barton that every year he was going to help him collect toys.
And he did just that.
Back in 2005, the Boca Raton Rotary Club Sunset was instrumental in raising money to help purchase an intricate merry-go-round. In celebration of Rotary’s 100th anniversary, the club decided to donate the carousel to the city’s Parks and Recreations Department where it was then placed at Sugar Sand Park.
Because of the Rotary’s generosity, the Greater Boca Raton Beach & Parks District, which owns the play area, offered the club a chance to use the carousel one day a year free of charge.
In 2007, Heizer proposed to use one of those days to host a toy drive.
“No one was really using that carrousel,” Heizer said. “I thought let’s use this to help Wayne Barton and help kids during the holidays.”
Since the first Carousel Day, more and more people got involved. Boca Helping Hands joined forces as well as supporters from Atlantic High School Key Club and four other Rotary clubs.
This year, Boca Raton Chamber of Commerce will be joining the event as a sponsor.
The event is scheduled for Dec. 8 in Sugar Sand Park from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. It offers families fun and free rides on the carousel as well as hot dogs and hamburgers. There will also be a special appearance from Santa Claus.
Participants are urged to bring new, unwrapped toys that will be given to needy kids who may not otherwise receive any presents this holiday season.
“Our goal is to be the biggest toy drive in the south county,” Heizer said. “We want to be bigger, we want to be able to give away more toys.”
In the first Carousel day, they managed to raise a little over a thousand toys in donation. Last year, they hit around four thousand toys and this year, they hope to raise that number to six thousand.
“It’s no longer a club event and it’s no longer a Rotary event,” Heizer said. “It’s a city event and is open to everyone in the community to come and have a nice time during the holidays.”