Jemba's Annual 2012 Toy and Gift Drive for Victims of Domestic Violence November 26 - December 22, 2012

BEVERLY HILLS, CA, December 02, 2012 (Press-News.org) Jemba's Annual 2012 Toy and Gift Drive begins November 26 and ends December 22 2012.

For the past 5 years Jemba has organized and hosted "Jemba's Annual Toy and Gift Drive for families' victims of domestic violence. He is a junior at Oakwood Secondary School. Jemba is a teen leader and budding philanthropist. He has learned from his own personal challenges that your circumstances do not define who you are. He's learned with his efforts he can make a difference no matter how young, no matter how rich!

His grassroots group consists of fellow Oakwood teens, parents and several organizations. JADV collects and distributes toys and gifts to families who have turned to shelters and other programs for assistance. Last year 2011 his toy drive benefited "The Jenesse Center", "The Project Peacemakers Program" and several homeless families.

On Christmas Day 2011, while most teens were playing their new XBOX, PS3 or WII. Oston and his Mom were driving around downtown Los Angeles' skid row looking for homeless children. He wanted to distribute the few toys he'd received after the official end of toy drive.

Each year "Jemba's Annual Toy and Gift Drive" gains popularity and serves more and more families. December 8th 2011, Jemba joined Colleen Williams on NBC4 Nonstop News, and then to his surprise he was awarded an ABC7 Cool Kid's Award by Danny Romero. His cool kids segment aired in January 2012. Jemba hopes that all the media attention will translate into more toys and gifts for his cause. Jemba's goal this 2012 is to collect 1500 toys and gifts for the shelters he serves.

Jemba's Toy and Gift Drive begins November 26th until December 22, 2012. So far, Jemba has the following local businesses and organizations supporting the drive; Legend's Barbershop 431 N. Fairfax Ave, the public can drop off their items Mon-Sat:9am-9pm Sun:10am-6pm, Nederlander Concerts, Oakwood Elementary Schools, Oakwood Secondary School, Oakwood Alumni, Wagon Wheels Preschool, FAME Church & Teen Preparation, ABC Scholars, ABC7 Cool kids along with others listed on the website.

In 2011, Jemba's annual toy and gift drive collected over 707 items and fifty $5.00 Subway gift cards. The gift cards were a big hit with the teens. In addition to toys, Jemba would like to collect gifts for Moms and small babies and don't forget the teens!

The items collected will go to The Jenesse Center, The Project Peacemakers Program and other shelters in need in the South Los Angeles area. Please donate a new unwrapped toy or gift to "Jemba's Annual 2012 Toy and Gift Drive". A complete wish list can be found on the JADV website http://www.jemba.org.

For more details please email: Jemba at jembadv@gmail.com or email Coordinator: Colette at colette@jemba.org

Help bring a little joy to these families this holiday season.