Las Vegas Weekly

December 1, 2009 · 11:11 AM

Holly Madison launches toy drive, offers peek at Holly’s World

By Robin Leach

Holly Madison is ready for the holidays.

Photo: Langdon Flynn Communications

Platinum Peepshow beauty Holly Madison will announce this morning that she will spearhead her inaugural Holly Jolly Christmas Toy Drive. “I don’t have a specific goal for this first year, but once we know how many toys each year that follows, we will simply top it,” she told me excitedly yesterday.

Holly has teamed up with Lotus Broadcasting to collect as many toys as possible in the month of December. All of the toys will go to the Salvation Army and Toys for Tots in Southern Nevada.

The Planet Hollywood headliner and reality TV show actress told me she will show up at different locations in town throughout December to collect toys and thank people for their donations. That kicks off at the new Strip Hard Rock Cafe on Friday from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. when she will line up with Marines collecting toy donations.

Donors are asked to bring a new, unwrapped toy to any of the drop-off locations that will be announced periodically on Lotus radio stations. Tony Bonnici is vice president and general manager of Lotus Broadcasting’s six local stations: KOMP 92.3-FM, KXPT 97.1-FM, KWID 101.9-FM, KWWN ESPN Radio 1100-AM, KBAD Fox Sports Radio 920-AM and KENO ESPN 1460-AM.

Photo: Ethan Miller/Getty Images

Stoyan Metchkarov and Holly Madison in Peepshow at Planet Hollywood.

Tony told me: “Each donor of a new $10-plus toy will get a raffle ticket with the opportunity to win a Findlay Kia for a year. Holly is the perfect leader to spearhead this drive. She’s as beautiful inside as she is out. She has embraced our city and told us she wanted to do something special, so we joined forces with her. We’re hoping to get a minimum of 1,000 toys for the first Holly Jolly drive.

“She’s a really good ambassador for Vegas. Her heart is in the right place. Just like our mayor is different than any other mayor in America, so is Holly than other stars. There’s something about being in Vegas that brings out the best in people.”

Holly added: “I’ve always supported kids with toys at Christmas. It’s one of my favorite things to do. I go out and buy them to donate. I will again this year. Sometimes, though, living in L.A., I had to look hard to find drop-off points. It’s exciting to do this with six radio stations here, so people will always know where the drop-off points will be and where I will be, too.

Photo: Denise Truscello/WireImage

Holly Madison toasts to her new home, "Planet Holly," on the Strip.

“I’m still a kid at heart myself, so it’s great to share. I have everything I want -- except for some more free time in my life -- so it’s wonderful to be able to give to others. Christmas is a happy time when we can cozy up with family and forget stress. We will help a little toward that for those less fortunate.”

Holly also told me that over Thanksgiving, she had the first look at her new, edited first episode of Holly’s World, which debuts this Sunday on E! Entertainment. Mayor Oscar Goodman and I have regular cameo roles in the show.

“It’s awesome,” Holly laughed. “So much better than I dared dream possible. It looks great. It’s funny and a real guilty pleasure with eye candy. But we also have the message of female empowerment, and that makes me very happy.

“The show airs right after the final episode of this season’s The Girls Next Door as a special, and then we’ll resume shooting early in the New Year for the weekly series to begin in the spring. It will be really good for Vegas and help bring more tourists here. Vegas really looks good on the show.

Photo: Scott Harrison/Retna/www.harrisonphotos.com

Holly Madison and Mayor Oscar Goodman serve a Thanksgiving lunch to at-risk students and senior citizens at Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts on Nov. 24, 2009.

“It was the first time I got to meet and work with the mayor. He’s a great character along with you on the show. We sew the seeds of me working with the mayor at City Hall, and then I’ll reveal my secret plans to take over his job when the season starts!”

Robin Leach has been a journalist for more than 50 years and has spent the past decade giving readers the inside scoop on Las Vegas, the world’s premier platinum playground.

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