Stuffed animals wait for approximately 800 foster and adopted children at Georgia's Camp Rock as part of the annual Christmas celebration Saturday.

VALDOSTA, Ga. — Leah Hadley’s sons, Thomas and Ayden, look forward to celebrating Christmas in a special way every year.

For the fifth consecutive year, Camp Rock of Georgia, an organization developed to help meet the needs of underprivileged children in South Georgia, treated foster families to a day of Christmas-themed festivities at the area fairgrounds during its Christmas Time at Camp Rock.

Hadley lives in Brooks County, Georgia, about 40 minutes away, and brings her sons because it gives them the chance to connect with their bigger family, she said.

“For them, it’s one day they can get together there and see other kids who are fostered,” Hadley said.

Seeing and connecting with the other families gives her support, she said.

Hadley, who has been fostering children for four years, officially adopted her sons in June, she said.

Thomas and Ayden were Hadley’s first set of foster children. Hadley has brought her sons to the Christmas event for the past three years.

Like Hadley, families come from miles around to participate in the Christmas event.

Some families come from as far away as Atlanta, said Jay Watkins, pastor of the area’s Redland Baptist Church.

After registration, families and guests enjoyed bounce houses and participated in various activities like raffles and horse rides.

Other guests got haircuts by an area college’s cosmetology program.

Decorations followed Camp Rock’s “Dr. Seuss’s Christmas in Whoville” theme. At times, the song “Welcome Christmas,” most easily recognized in the animated version of “Dr. Seuss’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” played in the background.

Hadley and her sons took pictures with Santa Claus.

Although the Grinch made an appearance in “Whoville” Saturday, he never stole Christmas. Each foster child received a Christmas present, Watkins said.

Volunteers dressed as characters from Dr. Seuss books, Disney movies and Charles Shulz characters.

Toys, donated by various charities and organizations, were divided by age and gender. Each child also received a stuffed animal and blanket from Camp Rock. Watkins said he wanted the children to have “something they can take that feels like home.”

According to Watkins, nearly 800 children were registered to attend the event Saturday, Watkins said. That number did not include parents and guests, and he anticipated Camp Rock fed between 1,500 and 2,000 people.

Of the community where the annual event is held, 175 foster children live in Lowndes County, Georgia, according to Rhonda Wheeler, Georgia Division of Family and Children Services (GDFCS) director for the state’s Lowndes and Brooks counties. Those children are part of more than 900 foster children who live in the GDFCS Region 11.

More than 11,000 children are orphaned in Georgia, Wheeler added.

Wheeler said she and her staff get excited about the event every year. “Everybody wants to come back,” Wheeler said. “My staff enjoys that somebody in the community puts this on.”

Stewart writes for the Valdosta (Georgia) Daily Times.