BILL PICKETT FOUNDATION
‘Invisible Santa’ benefits more than 900 kids
This year marked the 10th anniversary of the Bill Pickett Foundation’s Christmas Toy Drive, but organizers say the generosity of the people of Taylor has shown no signs of slowing down.
“We have just been busy, busy, busy bees,” said program coordinator Amber Contreras.
“Taylor is a great community.
We truly believe it takes a village to do this, and that is what we have.” Since the program began in December 2015, it has expanded from helping about 40 kids from 10 families to almost 900 children from over 300 families in a partnership with the Taylor Independent School District and the Head Start program, organizers said.
“Ninety percent of our families are from Taylor,” Contreras said. “We don’t turn anyone away.”
Contreras said every fall, hundreds of toys are collected through donation boxes and angel trees at area businesses, from H-E-B to Weber Chiropractic and the Texas Beer Co., the latter which has partnered with the toy drive since it began at its former location at Second and Main streets.
“We were thrilled to be part of the toy drive for the 10th year in a row,” said Texas Beer Co. CEO Megan Klein. “When we started Texas Beer Co., we wanted to contribute to the community, and the Bill Pickett Foundation partnership has been a great way for us to give back locally.”
Bill Pickett Executive Director Gerald Anderson, the great-nephew of legendary African American cowboy and rodeo star Bill Pickett, said in recent years, community members have begun donating to the cause and applying for the program even in the summer.
“People reach out to us now starting in August and September asking, ‘What do you all need for the toy drive?’” Anderson said. “I think by the time October came this year we already had over 100 families that had signed up.”
This year’s donations included everything from clothing, basketballs, dinosaurs and even 40 bikes with helmets to go with them, organizers said.
Anderson said his foundation’s approach is designed to play a behindthe- scenes, supporting role for the local families struggling economically.
“We don’t go and hand out the gifts,” Anderson said. “We ask the parents to come and pick them up. That way the kids can still enjoy the spirit of Christmas. Nothing against the way other people do it, but we just prefer to be more of an invisible Santa than a visible one.”
