Tractor-trailer full of toys: Jelly Roll makes Christmas bright for kids, teens

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Country singer Jelly Roll is making sure that families in the Nashville area will have a Merry Christmas.

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The singer, whose real name is Jason DeFord, brought a tractor-trailer packed with toys to the Last Minute Toy Store, WZTV reported.

The organization said there were 10 pallets of toys and bikes packed in the trailer.

The program gives gifts, including toys, stocking stuffers, books and sports equipment, to families that qualify. Teens don’t miss out either. They are given gift cards.

The Last Minute Toy Store teams with the Davidson County Sheriff’s Office to collect and distribute the gifts to families who have “come upon hard times in 2023 due to unemployment, family crisis/trauma, debilitating illness or not being able to provide Christmas and pay the bills.”

It is called “Last Minute” because it helps families who have not received help over the holiday season or who have missed the deadline to be recipients of other charities this year.

Sheriff Daron Hall said Jelly Roll is “changing music and lives” in a Facebook post thanking the singer.

Jelly Roll visited two Nashville-area Walmarts to help collect toys for the Metro Nashville Police Department’s Christmas charities and the Nashville Fire Department, WSMV reported. It was called the largest toy drive in city history.

On Oct. 20, he appeared at the Franklin Walmart reopening and collected a donation of $25,000 worth of toys, in partnership with Coca-Cola and Hasbro, for the drive. Then on Nov. 4, he appeared at Walmart in Antioch, where anyone who donated a new toy could get into the event for free, WSMV reported last month. Several stores in the area had donation bins earmarked for the drive.

The Last Minute Toy Store gave 7,000 kids a happy holiday last year, WZTV reported.

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