Toy drives in need

Jenny Marder

Two major holiday toy drives are hurting for presents this year.

Toys for Tots and Spark of Love toy drives both report dire

shortages of donations this season. Organizers are hoping to see an

influx of unwrapped gifts between now and Christmas.

The Spark of Love toy drive, an effort organized by fire

departments in five counties, has joined forces with the local branch

of the national Toys for Tots drive to collect and deliver unwrapped

holiday gifts to children in need. Spark of Love is organized by the

Huntington Beach Fire Department, and Toys for Tots is based out of

Surf City’s First Team Real Estate offices. Both are nonprofit

campaigns spearheaded by the United States Marine Corps. Orange

County is one of five Southern California counties participating in

Spark of Love. Both groups are collecting toys to be sent to a

central warehouse and distributed to needy families by various Orange

County-based nonprofit organizations. Charities, which include the

Children’s Hospital of Orange County, the St. Vincent de Paul Society

and Project Self Sufficiency, submit shopping lists to the warehouse,

complete with the children’s ages and genders. The warehouse does its

best to meet all requests.

“The toy drive as we speak today is really slow,” fire department

engineer Andy Zepeda. “We are running low, and that’s really weird.

Especially with the fires, you’d think people would be in the giving

mood.”

Zepeda and organizer Martha Werth hope the drive will gain

momentum as Christmas draws near.

Twice a week, the Fire Department fills two stake-bed trucks with

toys and takes them to the El Toro Marine base. Surf City’s three

First Team Real Estate offices are also struggling to fill their

bins, said Mary Castillo, company spokeswoman.

“This is something that we have been doing for more than three

years and something that First Team Real Estate has always been very

committed to,” Castillo said.

Last year, Spark of Love collected 275,000 toys in Orange County

alone -- more than half of the total amount collected by all five

counties.

Werth is hoping to surpass that number this year.

Most needed are toys for the infant to 2-year-old category. The

Hokey Pokey Elmo, in high demand this year, is especially welcome.

Organizers of both groups vow that every toy will make it to the

home of a child who would otherwise have a Christmas without gifts.

Those that arrive on Christmas Day will be delivered to Huntington

Beach homes by firefighters on duty.

“We’ll take them on the engine companies, drive them out to homes

in the neighborhood with our lights flashing and deliver them

personally,” Zepeda said. “We’re kind of like Santa Claus in a big,

red firetruck.”

Toys that come after Christmas will be stored and delivered next

year.

People who lost homes in the wildfires will especially benefit

from the drive this year, Zepeda said.

“For a little boy and girl at Christmastime not to have anything

is a shame, and for us as a society, we can do something about that,”

Zepeda said.

Collection boxes can be found at all Huntington Beach fire

stations and at First Team Real Estate’s three Huntington Beach

offices, at 19021 Goldenwest St., at 6781 Warner Ave. and at 20100

Brookhurst St. There are also collection boxes at City Hall, the

police department and the central library.

Gifts must be new, unwrapped and worth $10 or more.

For more information about the Spark of Love, call (714) 374-1551,

and for more information about Toys for Tots, call (714) 557-0771.