Charlotte: Toy Drives To Give Back
It’s early December, which marks the time of year when toy drives take place so that less fortunate children get enough toys under the tree on Christmas morning. Most toy drives have a deadline of around December 15, so the toys can be wrapped and distributed throughout the city by Christmas morning.
Toy Drives By Definition
A toy drive is a charity event that collects toys or money to be distributed to those in need. Volunteers are brought together to sort through toys to wrap and sort for age appropriateness. Appeals are made in shopping centers, schools, and other places for the public to purchase toys and meet certain goals.
Many charities or organizations will orchestrate a seasonal effort on top of their usual practices. Many police departments, fire departments, and military groups are involved in these efforts. One of the most important and famous toy drives is Toys For Tots, which is operated by the United States Marine Corps.
Toys for Tots: How It Began
Toys for Tots began as a Los Angeles charitable effort in 1947. Major Bill Hendricks, USMCR, was inspired by his wife Diane when she tried to donate a homemade Raggedy Ann doll to a needy child but could not find any organization to do so. At her suggestion, he gathered a group of local Marine reservists, including Lieutenant Colonel John Hampton, who coordinated and collected some 5,000 toys for local children that year from collection bins placed outside Warner Bros. movie theaters.
Charlotte Area Toy Drives
We took a look at the Charlotte area and found out what toy drives you can donate to this year.
The Heroes Toy Convoy
You can donate two or more new, unwrapped toys for children 14 and under in our area and those in Western North Carolina this holiday season.
The Heroes Toy Convoy with First Responders will head to the mountains to deliver toys in December and to families locally.
Donation dates: Tuesday, December 03, 2024, to Tuesday, December 17, 2024.
The Salvation Army – Charlotte
Each year, The Salvation Army partners with WCNC (NBC Charlotte) to collect toys for children of families experiencing poverty and hardship. They’ve made it easy and safe for you to help by donating funds for the purchase of new toys.
You can purchase toys online and drop off your new toy donations at your local Belk store, from now until December 13th.
Toys For Our Troops
Toys For Our Troops is an “Early Christmas” for up to 500 local military children, many who have a parent who is currently serving and will be away during the holidays, a parent who returned home with injuries, and tragically some who have lost a parent.
You can make donations on the Toys For Our Troops website.
