'I got presents,' Detroit music producer surprises kids in need with gifts
DETROIT (FOX 2) - - As soon as it was announced on the loudspeaker Wednesday morning that Santa Claus stopped by COTS Peggy’s Place to deliver thousands of gifts, seven-year-old Inarra Williams ran downstairs to the lobby.
Immediately, Santa gave her big hug and handed her a gift.
"I got a Hello Kitty car, a scarf," Williams said while smiling. "I got presents."
Williams was among the dozens of kids who picked up a number of gifts in the lobby of the shelter.
Electrifyin Filthy Rockwell, who organized the event through his charity Filthy Cares, said it’s called Adopt-A-Block.
"We’re here spreading Christmas cheer again," Rockwell said as kids were grabbing gifts. "This is our sixth year doing it. So, we’re back again spreading some love and peace and positivity to the community."
The Grammy-nominated producer and Detroit native drove to the shelter Christmas morning in a U-Haul filled with 6,000 gifts. Santa and Rockwell’s friends were there as well, delivering the gifts to the kids.
"This is the dream. This is what I always imagined it would be like, you know," Rockwell said." Normally we go door-to-door, and we deliver toys door-to-door. But, this year, well the last few years have been extremely hard for families. A lot of people have lost their homes. So, we decided to come spread some love here this year at COTS."
Rockwell said for weeks himself, his friends, and others in the community have been collecting gifts and donations of shiny new toys and then gift-wrapping them.
He said one of the goals is to give kids the Christmas he didn’t always have as a little boy growing up in Detroit.
"Sometimes I didn’t get the gift I wanted," Rockwell said. "It was a dream to deliver some gifts to kids and deliver really dope gifts to kids, the kind of gifts that I couldn’t get, you know. That was really the whole idea."
Parents were in attendance as well, throwing away the wrapping paper after their kids tore open the gifts.
Rockwell said he learned over the years that doing the event has really helped parents' budgets.
So, he aims to do this for years to come for all who are on Santa’s list. And hopefully it’ll inspire them to one day pay it forward when they’re adults.
"They don’t know me. The kids don’t know my name. They don’t know all these people. They won’t remember Filthy Cares," Rockwell said. "But they will remember that, you know, one day somebody knocked on their door with a gift. And that’s really what it’s all about."
