Yes West Virginia, there is a Santa Claus
By Jenny Harnish, RealWV
JR Gill didn’t get a lot of toys when he was a kid. He was one of 6 kids and money was tight.
“I was one of those kids that never had nothing,” he said. “When I was in school they would call a few of us out in front of the other kids to give us the toys. And I hated it, and when I got old enough to do it I said it will never be run like that.”
That’s why a few days before Christmas he loads up a van full of toys, shoes and coats and delivers them in the dark of night, when the kids are asleep.
“The kids never know where they come from. I deliver to their house in the middle of the night. If a kid is up and I’m delivering I drive off.”
This year marks the 17th year that Gill has been a real life Santa to children in Summers County and surrounding counties. The toy drive began when he was in the Ghost Riders Motorcycle Club, and when he retired from the club he took over the drive, naming it the JR Gills Toy Drive.
“The first year I had 30 kids and this past year it was 250 kids,” he said.
He keeps a stack of applications in his truck and begins handing them out the first of November each year. Parents fill out the application with the age, size and toy wishes of their kids and their address. The applications don’t have the kids’ names on them.
“They contact me from the Facebook page (Jr Gills Toy Drive), which everyone knows after 17 years,” he said. “What the kids want for Christmas is marked on the application and we try to match it.”
The toy room is open all year. Local businesses donate money for the shoes and arrange for toy drop off boxes at their locations. This year Gill counted around 40 businesses in Raleigh, Monroe and Summers counties that have contributed to the drive. Many individuals donate toys throughout the year .During November and December Gill can be found raising funds by selling hot dogs at Roses Discount Store in Hinton.
“In January when the toy sales go on they’ll go get me a truck load and I’ll pick it up. I start restocking the toy room in January,” Gill said.
On Friday he and several volunteers bought around 200 pairs of shoes at Shoe Carnival in Beckley.
“It ain’t cheap shoes,” he said.
For many families, the toy drive is what makes Christmas for their children every year. For others, they are the recipients until they are able to give back.
“One of the boys – I did it for him for 14 years. Now he’s one of my biggest backers. He comes in from North Carolina and brings me bikes, money or whatever. His mother I guess told him we did the toy drive for him all those years.”
