The holiday season is a time for joy and celebration – and teaming up to help those who might go without, especially children.

This year, as it has for many, Health First partnered with the South Brevard Sharing Center to procure and pass out bags and bags of new toys, clothes, electronics and more to parents who otherwise might have little or nothing waiting under the tree on Christmas. Added to this, brown paper bags heavy with hams, mashed potatoes, stuffing and desserts were thrown into car trunks, too.

Three nursing directors from across Health First joined the staff at the center to man the logistics of getting the right gifts to the right parents, who’d formed a line from the back of the center early Tuesday out and down Silver Palm Avenue.

“Brevard County is such a great place to be,” said Jessica Maynor, a System Director of Nursing Workforce Optimization at Health First. “We have cutting-edge healthcare, wonderful schools, beautiful beaches. Health First gives so much back to the community because we believe in it, and we believe it’s our role to keep Brevard healthy and well.”

“This is one more way we can reach people, one more way we can have an impact.”

Maynor was joined by Annie Clayton-Orrison, Health First Director of Patient Care Services at Holmes Regional Medical Center, and Matthew Fitzgerald, Director of Nursing Transformation at Health First.

The addition of a family dinner is new this year, said Chris Stagman, Community Relations and Development Director for the center. That parents driving through can get brand new presents and a holiday meal is something both the center and Health First can feel good about.

“And Health First has helped us with the food delivery program throughout this year, taking food out to folks who can't get to the pantry.”

Giving kids a Christmas filled with wrapped gifts “is different,” he said – “it’s about hope.”

“The financial strain is a struggle year-long, but when the holidays get here, giving a child a Christmas is a magical moment, a moment when they see for themselves that people in their community care.”

Inside the South Brevard Sharing Center, many more folks were lined up, waiting for nonperishables from the food pantry and available assistance with utility payments. Stagman said, while partners such as Health First are critical, it’s individual gifts and donations that are indispensable. Such contributions make up most of the assistance the center is able to dispense.

To learn more about the South Brevard Sharing Center, or to make a donation, visit MySharingCenter.org.

READ coverage of the hand off in Florida Today HERE.

READ more coverage in Space Coast Daily HERE.