JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2014 While many families are tightening their budgets this holiday season, one local group is giving back in a big way, spreading joy beyond Christmas at Nemours Children\u2019s Health in Jacksonville.<\/p>\n
More than 500 children and their families gathered Sunday for the third annual Beyond Christmas celebration, an event designed to bring toys, hope, and holiday relief to families of terminally ill children.<\/p>\n
>>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <\/b><\/a><\/p>\n Hundreds of families lined up outside the hospital, some wrapping around the facility, before leaving with bags of toys, many loading them directly into their cars.<\/p>\n The celebration included more than $100,000 worth of toys, donated by Jenn DeBeers Rishel, ensuring every child received something special. Truckloads of toys were unloaded as volunteers worked throughout the day to distribute gifts.<\/p>\n Tara Spruill, Chief Nurse at Nemours Children\u2019s Health, said the partnership makes a meaningful impact on families facing daily medical challenges.<\/p>\n \u201cYou know our patients go through some really hard things, stay in a day out, so it\u2019s not easy for them to come to the doctors, so for us to be able to provide this partnership and do this for our community. It really is heartwarming.\u201d<\/p>\n For many parents, the event was about more than just receiving gifts; it became a lesson in generosity.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s been a joy because it\u2019s been my chance to be able to give my child opportunity to understand how to give and give selflessly and then her see what it looks like on the other end when people receive that giving,\u201d said Mesha Russell, a mother who attended the event.<\/p>\n