Five Years of Holiday Cheer from Pinellas Tax Collector Offices
PINELLAS COUNTY, FL – Tax Collector Charles W. Thomas and members of his team delivered carloads of presents to the R’Club Child Care administration building in St. Petersburg on Wednesday, December 11. 2024 marks the fifth consecutive year of this employee-driven holiday initiative.
The tax collector team became toy collectors and provided gifts for 68 Pinellas County children. The collection drive has been in the works for weeks. Tax collector team members selected a child to purchase gifts for several months prior to the winter holidays. Since then, they’ve been busy purchasing, wrapping, and gathering various gifts from each child’s “wish list,” hoping to help make the season a little brighter for these families. There were enough toys, books, clothes, and bikes to fill a classroom at R’Club thanks to the team’s efforts.
Tax Collector, Charles W. Thomas (back, center), and members of his team
with R’Club employees and holiday gift donations.
“Community is one of our organization’s core values,” said Tax Collector, Charles W. Thomas. “We have such generous team members who have been contributing to this initiative year after year. I am so proud to join them here at R’Club, and I hope the local children enjoy their presents as much as we have enjoyed providing them.”
Since its inception in 2020, the “toy collector” initiative has been coordinated by two tax collector employees – Sara Lakin and Kellie VanPatten. In addition to their regular duties at the tax collector's office, they act as liaisons between the team and R’Club.
“I cannot believe we just completed our fifth year providing toys to deserving families through our annual ‘toy collector” drive,” VanPatten said, “This organization takes pride in giving back to our community and this year was no different. In 2020, we started with one office, this year we expanded to all five of our branch offices. I am so proud of how this program has grown and look forward to many years to come.”
“Even with the hardships the Bay area had this year with back-to-back hurricanes my coworkers stepped up and were excited and dedicated to giving back to our community,” Lakin added.
For more information about R’Club or to donate, visit rclub.net. For updates and important info from the tax collector’s office, visit their social media accounts (Facebook, Instagram, and X - @PinellasTC), or pinellastaxcollector.gov.
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ABOUT THE PINELLAS COUNTY TAX COLLECTOR’S OFFICE: The Pinellas County Tax Collector’s Office is a constitutionally elected office. Responsibilities include collecting and distributing state and local taxes and providing driver license and motor vehicle registration services to Pinellas County residents. For more information, visit pinellastaxcollector.gov.