While many families are busy checking off wish lists this season, not everyone has the means to put gifts under the tree. That's where Pop Up Round Up steps in, offering free toys to families who need a little extra help.
- Pop Up Round Up gives free Christmas toys to almost 100 Jackson children from families in need.
- Justin Counts started the program after struggling to afford Christmas gifts for his own son following his release from prison.
- Volunteers witness emotional moments as families receive free toys, bringing tears of joy to parents.
"We had only thought to sponsor maybe 10 families, but it just turned out to be such more of a need," said Justin Counts, executive director of the Jackson Strength Network.
The need comes from neighbors wanting to provide a memorable Christmas for their little ones. For some families, it's already hard to make ends meet.
Counts has experienced this need firsthand. After being released from prison in 2015, child support made it difficult for him to get by, even while working 40 hours a week.
"So I'm going to work every day, and only coming home with $160 every two weeks. It was just virtually impossible for me to provide for my son Christmas that year," Counts said.
Counts signed up for a program to provide him free toys, and he says it made all the difference to his family that year, in more ways than one.
"That really stayed with me, it really inspired me. Because I just wanted to be able to do something like that," Counts said.
Now he is doing exactly that. Pop Up Round Up provides the space for him to make this inspiration a reality. A room filled with toys that families in need can get for free. Almost 100 children from over 30 families have been impacted over the past few weeks.
Greatness Brown volunteers with the toy room and has seen the impact herself.
"There was a couple of ladies that came in with their children. When they came out with the bags, it was just tears, joy, and lot of happiness," Brown said.
It's moments like those that Counts sees as making the biggest difference.
"If we continue to do things like this and come together, we can make Jackson a better place," Counts said.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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