BeachLife Festival Hosts Holiday Toy Drive And Skating Event

HERMOSA BEACH, CA — The BeachLife Festival is partnering with the nonprofit Count On Me Family Foundation to host a special skating event and toy drive to benefit three local organizations.

The event will benefit the Los Angeles Boys & Girls Clubs, the Friendship Foundation, which supports children with special needs and their families, and the Redondo Beach Unified School District’s Project Unified, The BeachLife Festival announced Thursday.

Children participating in these programs will have a private ice skating party with the L.A. Kings mascot and select alumni at the Toyota Sports Center in El Segundo on December 1. After skating, each child will receive a new toy for the holidays, and cookies and hot chocolate will be provided by King’s Cove restaurant.

"It’s an incredible feeling to be able to create an event that will bring happiness to so many underserved children in our community," The BeachLife Festival co-founder Allen Sanford said. "It’s important that we support the South Bay community and all of its residents, not just during the holidays, but throughout the year. We are fortunate to live and work in such a vibrant community supported by many hard-working non-profits like The Boys & Girls Clubs, Friendship Foundation, and Project Unified."

El Segundo-based toy company Mattell Inc. will donate a large portion of toys for the event, but The BeachLife Festival is encouraging the local community in the South Bay to get involved by bringing an unwrapped toy to the dropoff location at Saint Rocke now through November 30.

"Any time we can expose kids to the rink and the game of hockey we jump at it," Jennifer Pope, VP, Community Relations and Team Services for the L.A. Kings, said. "Our good friends at The Beachlife Festival are doing great work in the South Bay Community, and we’re proud to continue our partnership with them. The entire L.A. Kings organization is looking forward to a great afternoon on December 1st."

Unwrapped toys will be collected from now until November 30 at Saint Rocke, located at 142 Pacific Coast Highway in Hermosa Beach.