Elijah Langford likes to celebrate holidays by helping others.
But this year he had a bigger start to his Christmas celebrations by bringing hundreds of boxes of cereal along with canned food, diapers and some clothing to a day care and church in New York.
Langford's latest project, Thinking Outside the Cereal Box, aims to bring the children's breakfast mainstay — and anytime meal — to those in need.
The Atlantic City native has still-in-the-works plans to make a major impact closer to home.
But he was inspired for this week's trip courtesy of recording artist Ashanti — whose godmother is Langford's mother and Atlantic City's former first lady, Nynell Langford.
"I feel like I gained some friends at both places because of how attentive they were with their communities," Elijah Langford said of his trip.
The group brought 600 boxes of cereal, Pampers, canned goods, dozens of jeans and shirts and more than 500 pairs of socks on their journey to the day care and church.
The James Davis Glenn Cove Day Care is named for Ashanti's grandfather. St. Rocco's Church, which received half of the donations, operates a community food bank and provides shelter for those in need.
"It was great timing as she prepares for her Verzuz battle this Saturday with Keyshia Cole," Langford told BreakingAC.
Verzuz is a virtual DJ battle created by Timbaland and Swizz Beatz in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Saturday's 8 p.m. cast is expected to draw 7 million to 10 million viewers, he said.
"The response was great," Langford said. "Both organizations were extremely grateful, and appreciative. There will probably be some more collaboration in the future because of the reaction that we received."
