Off-Roaders Band Together to Spread Holiday Happiness

The Off-Road Community Saves Christmas for SoCal Kids in Need

The King Shocks Toy Drive took place on Dec 16, 2023, at the King Shocks facility in Garden Grove, California. This was the first installment of this annual event, and it exceeded all expectations. The event was noticeably packed with overland builds, off-road builds, and prerunners, too. From a decked-out Sprinter to a six-figure trophy truck, you could find it here. Toyota was in attendance and showcased three of its brand new Tacoma models. With over 1,000 off-road builds on hand and 5,000 people in attendance, this was one of the largest toy drives to come together in the off-road community.

“With over 1,000 off-road builds on hand and 5,000 people in attendance, this was one of the largest toy drives to come together in the off-road community.

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The four-hour toy drive was spearheaded by Trail Wolves, creators of the popular Rodeo X Rigs meets, and planned by a combination of teams. The teams included King Shocks, Trail Wolves, Tacoma Beast, Terra Crew, Desert Media, and Raceline Wheels. Their collaboration resulted in  a fantastic event that benefited children in the community. There was even an overland swap meet integrated into the event by Eezy Supplies.

According to Jason of Trail Wolves, more than 100 vendors attended the toy drive, and their booths spanned half of a mile. Brands onboard included Rigid Industries, Diode Dynamics and Duro Bumps coming from Arizona, Running 4 Tacos from Colorado, Tacoma Beast from Texas, and Power Brakes all the way from North Carolina.

The event managed to collect so many toys, multiple drop-off locations had to be arranged, he says.

“We had three flatbed trucks full of toys,” Jason says. “Children’s Hospital of Orange County couldn’t take them all, so we donated some to Orange County Fire Authority and the rest to the Magnolia Park Family Resource Center. I’d say we accomplished our mission. Next year we might have to work with more organizations.

“We had three flatbed trucks full of toys.”

“This event is very unique in many ways,” Jason continues. “First, you have media giants like Terra Crew and Desert Media that host their own meets and toy drives. Then, Mateo from  Tacoma Beast, who travels all over the country hosting his events, was also there as well as those of us who produce the Rodeo X Rigs tour. It’s really cool how we all ended up coming together under the King Shocks banner. If you need to call it something, this was Pre Runners and Presents combined with Rodeo x Rigs Vol. 8, hosted by King Shocks and Raceline wheels.

“But then, you can’t forget all the support from so many crews that came out today, like Rigs N Paws, Team Battle, Down for Mobbing, Pure 4×4, Rig Talk, SoCal Tundras, SoCal Tundra Outlaws, Highland Trail Club, Low Pressure Crew, The Overland Culture, RPM Garage, SSA Haus, and SCPO that all are community movers,” he says. “Honestly, I’d call it Voltron, but you can call it whatever you want. My role here was to make sure that the toy drive was successful, and I think it’s a beautiful thing when everyone can come together for a great cause.”

The event footprint spanned over three city blocks and seemed to be well organized. It started from the Raceline Wheels building that consisted of a long walkway with vendors along both sides of the street. In between, event-goers came across fully built rigs, an overland scratch and dent swap meet, and a food truck area before arriving at the DJ booth/staging area in front of King Shocks.

“…it’s a beautiful thing when everyone can come together for a great cause.”

“Honestly, there was no chance we could have pulled this off without everyone donating their time,” Jason says. “The team did an amazing job with getting everyone in place. We were all here by 4:30 a.m. to conduct roll-in and didn’t leave till until the toys found a home and everything was cleaned up by 6 p.m. DJ Erok and JPistols set up the staging area and Yota Joe brought the energy on the mic. We even had some of our Trail Wolves MTB team members come all the way down from Northern California to manage the general parking areas—it was crazy!”

For more info or to be part of future events, follow @RodeoXRigs on Instagram and Facebook or visit RodeoXRigs.com.

Gratitude

“Thank you to Garden Grove PD and the Garden Grove Community Foundation for supporting the event,” Jason mentions. “Also, thank you to Bret King, Jeff Musgrave, and Ramses Perez. There were hours of planning that went on behind the scenes and without them being flexible and fully supportive, it wouldn’t have been as smooth. Thank you to Carter and Raceline Wheels for being flexible and sharing the block. Thank you to Garrett and James of Terra Crew and Melvin of Desert Media for planting the seed for all of this to happen at last year’s drive. Thanks to Mateo and Dustin of Tacoma Beast for always supporting what we do. Thanks to the  outstanding group I get to call the pack for help with all the logistics, designs, promo, video, booth, raffle, and toy collection. If I name one, I have to name them all, and there’s a lot—so I’ll leave it at ‘team.’ Thanks also to all the companies, crews, and attendees for making the toy drive successful. Also, a shout out goes to 5-0 Brew. I’m a huge supporter of military and first-responder-owned businesses. They dedicate their lives to the community, so I believe returning support should be a minimum. Overall, the event made an unbelievable mark with its success of the first annual toy drive! See you next year.”

Editor’s Note: A version of this article appeared in TREAD Mar/Apr 2024.