Community Events Family and Kids

Toy and donation drive for Whaley to help provide hope despite other disappointment

For nearly four decades, the best musicians from throughout the greater Flint area have gathered this time of year for a benefit concert helping some of the most deserving children and families in the area.

This year, the concert stage will be silent. Due to COVID-19, the 39th Annual Whaley’s Christmas Jam –
befitting the Whaley Children’s Center in Flint – has been canceled.

“The health and safety of all involved in this event is at the top of our minds,” said event organizer Keith Jennings. “(And,) while we certainly hate to call off this annual benefit, current state mandates leave us no
other choice. This whole year has been full of various disappointments. This action is yet another, and
the real losers in this are the kids and families the Whaley Children’s Center helps.”

Recognizing the void losing the Whaley’s Christmas Jam has created, members of the Vehicle City Sound Podcast and the management at Shiner’s Dive Bar located at 5545 S. Saginaw Rd. in Flint, have organized a Toy & Donation Drive. The event will be held from 12-4 p.m. on Saturday, December 19, 2020 in the parking lot at Shiner’s. Members of the Podcast, as well as Jennings and performers from several area bands will be on hand throughout the afternoon to collect toys for the kids at Whaley. Monetary donations for the ongoing programs and services provided by the Whaley Children’s Center are also welcome.

“The Greater Flint Community has always risen to the cause and supported our annual Whaley’s Christmas Jam,” Jennings says. “We’re optimistic they will again come out in large numbers to provide a bright spot for these kids in what otherwise has been a very challenging year.”

The Whaley Children’s Center in Flint is a source of hope, care and treatment to Michigan’s abused,
neglected and at-risk children and families.
The Vehicle City Sound Podcast is a weekly broadcast promoting Flint and Southeast Michigan’s best
live bands and performers, as well as the venues that support them.

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