GREEN BAY (NBC 26) — People in Green Bay are showing their holiday spirit for teenagers in need in Brown County.
Santa Claus, firefighter elves, a parade float, and fire trucks are looping around the Christa McAuliffe Park neighborhood collecting gift and financial donations to bring festivity to teens in need.
"I think the teens do get forgotten," Jenny Watson said, who donated around $30 in cash. "Because it's fun to buy presents for the younger kids and things like that. I think the older ones get forgotten, and it's important for them to have a Christmas, too."
"We can always count on this neighborhood out by Christa McAuliffe Park to bring their full, festive force out for our Gifts For Teens parade," Green Bay Metro Fire Department Lt. Chad Decker said.
Decker says each year, the department aims to help around 2,000 teens.
"And that's roughly about the need in the county of teenagers who just otherwise wouldn't have a gift for Christmas morning," Decker said.
Gifts collected will be sent over to the Salvation Army for its gift distribution.
Firefighters will use donated money to go shopping for more gifts.
"Nobody really focuses on the teens, and that's our job here tonight," Decker said.
Monday night was the first of eight different parade routes in the city of Green Bay, and the villages of Allouez and Bellevue over the next couple of weeks.
A list of those parade routes, as well as other ways to donate, can be found here.