‘Reason For the Season’ | ICYMI – Local community outreach and restauranteur doubled-down on toy giveaway this past holiday season
IGNITE Resource Center, Nouveau Bar and Grill adopted 50 families for their 2nd annual toy drive.

COLLEGE PARK, Ga. — Fifty families from the Southside were greeted with a wonderful holiday surprise as the good folks from Nouveau Bar & Grill in partnership with IGNITE College Park Resource Center and others hosted a toy giveaway at the Cascade Skating Rink on the evening of Monday, December 20th.

As a part of its Annual Christmas on Main Street sponsorship program, the College park-based organization initiated an ‘Adopt-A-Family’ Holiday Toy Drive where 50 pre-registered families received a select number of items for their very own pre-submitted holiday lists.

“We just love giving back to the community to see the smiles on the children’s faces,” shares Jamelle McKenzie, Executive Director for IGNITE College Park Resource Center.

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While the toy drive was a part of an annual holiday initiative, the idea for using the Cascade Skating Rink as a fun location to distribute the toys to the respective families was all the brainchild of Nouveau Bar & Grill owner, Ebony Austin, Mckenzie tells Vox Pop ATL.

“Last year we didn’t have the giving activity, we actually went door to door delivering gifts to 25 families.”

Mckenzie also shared with Vox Pop ATL that all of the toys were purchased at the nearby Walmart on Old National Highway, which discounted nearly every item on their shopping list.

Austin reportedly spent in the neighborhood $60,000 procuring all of the items for the evening’s event, she stated in an article.

Those funds were used to purchase the top items from all the children of the pre-registered families including everything from mountain bikes, four-wheelers, action figures, board games, athletic equipment, and much, much more.

For more information about the IGNITE College Park Resource Center, visit their website.