Clearwater Tax Collector Offices Celebrate the Season of Giving with R’Club

The Pinellas County Tax Collector or, the Pinellas County Toy Collector this time of year, brings holiday cheer to local children. 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 14, to drop off gift donations for local children in need.

Tax Collector, Charles W. Thomas (in the Santa hat), Tax Collector employees,

and R'Club employees gathered around gifts.

The Toy Collector initiative allowed 59 children to receive items from their holiday wish lists.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.

“I am always proud of my team’s dedication to serving Pinellas, especially when they take that spirit of service beyond our offices,” said Tax Collector Charles W. Thomas. “Our focus as an organization is to put the community first and bringing some holiday cheer to the R’Club kids is something we look forward to doing every year.”

Sara Lakin, from the North County tax collector’s office, had the idea to partner with R’Club in 2020 and it quickly spread through the whole organization. This year, she started planning in July by determining how many children they could help. By November she had a list of kids in need, along with each child’s interests to assist with gift ideas.

“It seems each year, I am asked earlier and earlier by the employees if we will be participating in the Toy Collector,” Lakin said, “It is always wonderful to see people getting together and planning what they want to get the children. This year, hearing that other offices wanted to help really made me excited and even more proud of where I work.”

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.

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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.