Skip to Main Content

Clearwater Tax Collector Offices Become Toy Collectors This Holiday Season

 

PINELLAS COUNTY, FL — The Pinellas County Tax Collector has once again become the Pinellas County Toy Collector this holiday season. Tax Collector Charles W. Thomas, along with members of his team, met at the R’Club Child Care administration building in St. Petersburg on Wednesday, December 15, to drop off wrapped gift donations for local children in need.

This year, Thomas and three departments from the tax collector were able to gift 24 children with clothes, books, toys, and other items from their wish lists. This collaboration with R’Club started last year when a tax collector employee expressed an interest in giving back to the community. Their peers at the north Clearwater office thought there couldn’t better way to give back than by fulfilling the wishes of as many children as possible during the holidays.

A group of people around a Christmas tree
From L to R: Jim Dymtrow, R’Club Supervisor; Michael Mullins, R’Club Supervisor;
Laura Siegel, R’Club Supervisor; Mindy Wells, R’Club Supervisor; Akilah Crouse, R’Club Supervisor;
Jackie Ware, Tax Collector Branch Manager; Sara Lakin, Tax Technician; Charles W. Thomas, Tax Collector

“Our focus as an organization is to put the community first and to help make it a better place,” said Tax Collector Charles W. Thomas. “I am extremely proud of my team today, for taking the initiative to give back and bring some holiday cheer to these kids.”

Since 1976, R’Club has been providing Pinellas County with high-quality, accessible, and affordable child-care and establishing cooperative community programs. Every day they serve over 4,000 children in Pinellas County.

Employees from the North County office in Clearwater started their planning in August by determining how many children they could help. Then they reached out to R’Club and by November the office had a list of kids in need, along with each child’s interests to assist with gift ideas.

“Once the kids’ wish lists come in it kicks it into high gear and people start shopping and getting together to make the holiday that much brighter for the kids,” a tax collector employee explained, “Once it got around what we were doing, other departments reached out wanting to help, [and] we actually had more volunteers than we had kids this year! Gives me high hopes for next year.”

For more information about the R’Club or to donate, visit rclub.net. For updates and important info from the Tax Collector’s Office, find them on social media (Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter) @PinellasTC, or visit pinellastaxcollector.gov.

 

###

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.

Back to top