CLEARWATER, Fla., Dec. 24, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Clearwater’s Winter Wonderland, co-sponsored by the Clearwater Community Volunteers and the Church of Scientology, held its closing ceremony on Sunday the 20th of December.  The 13-day family-friendly festival drew over 7,200 visitors, well over previous years.  A leading British Swing Band performed on the closing weekend to a crowd of almost 1,000 people while children played in the background on the bouncy house, slide and gyroscope.

Over 2 tons of food and toys were collected for the Pinellas County Defender’s Nourish to Flourish program for chronically hungry children.

The Clearwater Community Volunteers organized special nights for children-supported by non-profit organizations which included: The Pinellas County Foster & Adoptive Parents Association; The Hispanic Outreach Center; Sheriff’s Youth Ranch; Raising Downs Syndrome Foundation Inc. and Shriners’ Hospital for Children Tampa.  Donated gifts were given to the children to make their Christmas special.

One non-profit executive wrote the following to the Winter Wonderland volunteers for their evening:

“…. Everybody remarked how well managed and how kind everybody was to our kids. Please tell the group how much we appreciated their kindness and willingness to help our kids have an awesome night with Santa.”

For more information visit the Clearwater Community Volunteer’s website at www.ccvfl.org

Clearwater Community Volunteers

Clearwater Community Volunteers (CCV) is a non-profit, charitable organization, made up entirely of volunteers and was founded by parishioners of the Church of Scientology in Clearwater.  CCV produces the huge Easter Egg Hunt in Coachman Park in Clearwater every Spring, Fashions with Flair fundraiser fashion show and “Winter Wonderland” – an annual holiday charity drive in downtown Clearwater. CCV gets their inspiration from the quote by L Ron Hubbard, "Love and Help Children."  CCV has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars and tons of food and toys over the past 23 years for charities such as Nourish to Flourish, Shriners’ Hospital for Children Tampa and The Children's Home, Inc.