A little more than 100 Pajaro Valley Unified School District students received an early Christmas present at Pajaro Valley High’s first annual toy drive event on Dec. 23.
Children from H.A. Hyde, Ohlone and Hall District elementary schools got a chance to pick from an assortment of toys inside the gymnasium prior to the varsity girls’ basketball game against North Monterey County.
The youngsters also got a special visit from Santa Claus and Little Santa Claus, who spoke to the group prior to making their way to the newly packaged basketballs, board games, backpacks and stuffed animals.
“My mission is to not just coach basketball, but help young people and help families through a difficult time during Christmas,” Pajaro Valley girls’ basketball head coach Darren Jackson said. “For most families, it’s difficult for them to go out and purchase gifts. It was an awesome turnout.”
It’s been nearly a decade since Jackson began the toy drive tradition with his wife Melissa, a teacher at Sherwood Elementary in Salinas.
“[Melissa] was telling me there’s a lot of kids that’s struggling, and there’s a lot of homeless kids out there,” Jackson said. “So, she inspired me through her job.”
Jackson spent 24 years at North Salinas High before taking the helm at Pajaro Valley in September. The Grizzlies’ first-year head coach said he was hoping to keep the tradition alive in Watsonville.
Jackson and the girls’ basketball team were dished an assist from PV High Activities Director Julie Brusa.
Brusa and ASB student body members stepped in by helping collect dozens of donations, including 25 bicycles given out through a raffle.
“[Brusa and the ASB student body] played a role,” Jackson said. “It was a girls’ basketball function but we turned it into a school function.”
