With an estimated 3,000 gifts, Newport Beach’s Operation Christmas deemed a success

Christmas came early this year for dozens of families at local military bases, thanks to the help and support of Newport Beach residents.

On Friday, excited parents looked on as bags of presents after presents were brought forward to military trucks, imagining the looks on their children’s faces picking through the spoils, which included dolls, craft supplies, basketballs and even a bicycle. All had been collected through donation boxes set up at the city’s public facilities throughout the month.

Longtime organizer Brad White makes comments to members of an aviation battalion from Joint Forces Training Base Los Alamitos for the Operation Christmas event at Newport Beach City Hall on Friday.

(Don Leach / Staff Photographer)

Rough estimates place this year’s donations at around 3,000 — clearing last year’s collection total of 2,000 by a mile.

The city of Newport Beach has partnered with organizers of Operation Christmas since 2005. The event is organized by Our Nation’s Heroes Foundation and this month marked its 19th year of bringing the holidays to military families across Southern California.

Members of the Army aviation battalion from Joint Forces Training Base Los Alamitos decorate a fire engine as part of Operation Christmas at Newport Beach City Hall on Friday.

(Don Leach / Staff Photographer)