On Saturday, December 22, Dancing with the Stars cast members Mark Ballas, Derek Hough and Sabrina Bryan were in San Ramon, participating in a toy drive hosted by Toys for Tots.  The toys were collected for the benefit of needy children.

The event was held at El Balazo in the Market Place shopping center, and was co-organized by the Wassim & Co. salon.  The reality stars signed autographs and posed for pictures with a steady stream of people, most of whom were mothers and daughters.

“It's really fun to meet the people that helped you get here," Mark Ballas, who was partnered with Sabrina Bryan for Dancing with the Stars 5, said.

The three stars arrived in the Bay Area the day before Toys for Tots event, in time for the Dancing with the Stars tour stop in San Jose.  They said that they decided to join the toy drive because they felt it was a good way to get into the spirit of the holidays.

"It just seemed like the right thing to do," Derek Hough, whose celebrity partner in the show's latest season was actress Jennie Garth (Beverly Hills 90210, What I Like About You), said.

Mark Ballas, Sabrina Bryan and Mark Hough find out about the event from Wassim & Co.'s sales consultant Nicole Pizani.  The owners of the salon, Wassim and Rashelle Kaddura, said they often facilitate food drives and that their participation in Saturday's event marks their first experience with a toy drive.

"Our community is incredibly generous," Rashelle said, noting that their customers were already donating toys even before the day of the event.  She also said that having the cast members of Dancing with the Stars proved to be a big help.  "It was pleasing to see how excited they were to be part of a charity event."

They were hoping to collect 500 toys in two hours, but at the end of the event, had been given a total of 700, all of which were delivered to the True Holiness Church in Oakland.  The toys, which included a variety of board games, stuffed animals and action figures, were packed into a van thanks in part to the members of the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, which runs Toys for Tots.


-Lisa Claustro, BuddyTV Staff Columnist
Source: San Mateo County Times
(Image Courtesy of Contra Costa Times)