Derrek Vaughn | The Valdosta Daily TimesShayla Jackson and her mother, Shanta Jackson, purchased 16 bicycles on Black Friday to deliver to the Florida panhandle.

VALDOSTA — In the Florida panhandle, there’s not only a need for water, new roofs and clothes — kids need Christmas presents. 

With Hurricane Michael destroying the area two months ago, communities and the residents living there have struggled to return to normal.

The holidays are fast approaching and a Lowndes High School student wants to help.

“After Hurricane Michael happened, I started thinking, ‘What if this would have happened to us?’ I would want somebody to help my community,” said Shayla Jackson, 16. “I felt it was a good thing to help out another community.”

The junior and Miss High School America winner drove down to the Bay County Sheriff’s Office in Panama City, Fla., to donate a U-Haul full of toys a week before Christmas.

Shayla normally participates in a toy drive for Children’s Advocacy Center of Lowndes County.

However, watching the Hurricane Michael aftermath footage drove her to take toys to children in need in Bay County, Fla.

Shayla and her mother, Shanta Jackson, joined forces with Project 25, a nonprofit of the Bay County Sheriff’s Office that has been donating Christmas toys to the community’s underprivileged children for 38 years, said Becky Johns, program coordinator.

“Everybody lost just about everything they owned,” Johns said. “It looks like a bomb went off in this county. This year, we really needed to step up and help those kids that have lost everything. Shayla was one of those people who had that heart to do that also.”

Shayla and her mom received donations mostly from pageant friends. They were shipped toys or received money through PayPal to buy bicycles, dolls and action figures, stuffed animals and sports equipment.

The mother and daughter even braved Wamart during Black Friday to get 16 bikes — it was Shayla’s first Black Friday experience.

“Me and my mom attempted to put 16 bicycles in two buggies while getting through Walmart,” Shayla said. “It was something else for that to be my first Black Friday.”

Shayla and her mom drove down Dec. 14. On the way back, Shanta took them through various communities to witness the true impact of the hurricane.

“I know she knows what she’s doing is for a great cause but seeing the aftermath of what it is two months later is really going to be a big deal for her,” Shanta said.

Shayla and Shanta aren’t the only ones donating to Project 25.

The organization has received more than 6,000 toys, the most ever donated in the almost four decades of the nonprofit’s existence.

Johns said she is accepting donations up until Christmas Eve. For more information, contact her cell phone at (850) 628-0600.

“We’re all in this together,” Johns said. “This is a bad year, so don’t feel ashamed. If I was in this situation where my kids weren’t going to have anything, I would put that pride behind me. When I tell you they lost everything, they literally lost everything.”

Katelyn Umholtz is a reporter with the Valdosta Daily Times. She can be contacted at (229)244-3400 ext. 1256.