Drive taking anything new and unwrapped

The Orange County Toy Collaborative, which distributes holiday gifts to the area’s low-income kids, needs help.

“Right now they need approximately need 175,000 toys. That’s a lot of toys,” said Lynnette Round, spokeswoman for the Orange County Fire Authority. “We are in dire need of having toys dropped off.”

Every year the Orange County Firefighters’ “Spark of Love” drive, the Marine Corps’ “Toys for Tots” program, the Orange County Social Service Agency’s “Operation Santa Claus” and the St. Vincent de Paul charity team up to collect toys for needy kids.

Together they distribute more than 300,000 toys annually to indigent children and families.

“We’re taking anything that the public is willing to donate as long as it’s new and unwrapped,” Round said. “Right now we don’t have any toys in the warehouse.”

Orange County Toy Collaborative takes toy orders from nonprofit organizations throughout the county that will then handout toys to their kids on Christmas. The group collects toys for infants and kids up to 18 years old.

“This is what happens. Last year we were in the same situation. The toy drop-offs were down. Then the public responded amazingly,” she said.

This week, when employees at the toy warehouse were scheduled to fill orders, they were sent home instead. There were no toys for them to organize.

If the public doesn’t help out in the next week “then the kids won’t get any toys. And that’s not what we like to see. We like to make sure every child has a toy on Christmas,” Round said.

The toy collaborative especially needs toys for children up to 2, and kids 9 to 12 years old. Gift cards are acceptable as well. Toys and gift cards can be dropped off at any local Orange County fire department or CVS store.

JOSEPH SERNA may be reached at (714) 966-4619 or at [email protected].