ATLANTA -

The Jim Ellis Automotive Group wants everyone who comes to one of their showrooms to be in a giving mood like company leadership.

Jim Ellis is again partnering with the Marine Toys for Tots program, but the relationship has been amped up a few notches with the automotive group offering the chance to win gas cards and a grand prize shopping spree to individuals helping the dealerships bless children at Christmas this year.

All 17, Jim Ellis family owned and operated dealerships in Atlanta, Buford, Kennesaw and Marietta serve as collection sites for Toys for Tots and will be collecting toys through Dec. 15th at close of business. Each year, the Jim Ellis dealerships also partner with the Metro Atlanta Automobile Dealers Association (MAADA) as the association works with Toys for Tots to equip each of the Jim Ellis dealerships to serve as collection sites for this program.

The public can get involved in this initiative by bringing a new unwrapped toy to any of the Jim Ellis dealerships. These donations will go to make the holidays brighter for children in the surrounding communities in the hopes that every child will receive a gift this holiday season.

“Our Jim Ellis dealerships partner with MAADA and Toys for Tots year after year and have great success in collecting toys for children in need,” said Jim Ellis Automotive Group president and chief executive officer Jimmy Ellis. “This year we wanted to step things up a few notches and really make our customers and the local communities surrounding our dealerships aware of this initiative and how they can get involved.

“Christmas is a time of giving, and we want to do our part to make sure all children in our communities are blessed during the Christmas season,” Ellis continued.

As a way of saying thank you to individuals who contribute at one of the Jim Ellis locations to the Toys for Tots campaign this holiday season, the first 25 people who make a toy donation at each location will receive a $10 QuikTrip gift card.

Every customer that makes a qualifying toy donation during normal business hours through Dec. 15 will be entered for a chance to win a $2,500 shopping spree. Each toy donated qualifies as one entry for the chance to win the shopping spree.

Full contest details can be found here.

According to the Toys for Tots website, the organization was started in 1947 by the United States Marine Corps Reserve Major Bill Hendricks when his reserve unit in Los Angeles collected and distributed 5,000 toys to children in need. The program has expanded throughout the years and today donates an average of 18 million toys to less fortunate children each year.

The Jim Ellis partnership with Toys for Tots is made possible by the MAADA, an organization made up of hundreds of franchised dealers from the 18-county area surrounding Atlanta. MAADA’s pre-existing relationship with the Marine Toys for Tots Foundation has allowed Jim Ellis Automotive to be part of this exciting opportunity each year.

“The Metro Atlanta Automobile Dealers Association, comprised of over 140 franchised new car and truck dealer-members, believes very strongly in supporting efforts that improve the lives of the citizens of our community. That commitment to community service is especially important when it comes to helping Metro Atlanta’s less fortunate children,” said J.W. Southwick, director of marketing and social media at MAADA.

“The Holiday Season is one of joy and celebration, but some parents struggle to make ends meet and that takes away from their ability to put gifts under the tree for their kids. For the tenth consecutive year, the dealers of MAADA are proudly supporting the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve’s Toys for Tots campaign by serving as toy collection locations,” Southwick continued.

“Nearly 900,000 toys were collected during the 2017 campaign, and we’re hoping to help the Marines blast past the million-toy mark for this year’s drive,” Southwick went on to say.