Local 'Toys For Tots' Warehouse Needs Your Help To Bring Cheer To Kids In Need
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- It's crunch time at the Toys for Tots warehouse in Hartford County, and they need all the help they can get.
For 70 years, Toys for Tots has been bringing Christmas cheer to children in need.
Now, their Harford County warehouse needs the help.
The volunteers are committed to collecting as many toys as possible, as they want to help hundreds of local families, but they cannot do it alone.
It may not be the North Pole, but the Toys for Tots warehouse in Harford County might as well be.
Volunteers collecting, sorting, and delivering toys throughout Harford County, reaching as many families as they can in time for the holidays.
"We are in the beginning phases of our toy collection. We've only collected from a few places," said Harford Co. Toys for Tots coordinator Craig Reeling.
The daunting task means 12-hour days for the Marines and community members pitching in.
But they can only make do with what they get, and this year, the donation bins are not filling up as fast.
"As quickly as they get pulled in, they can be gone in a day's time, they can be empty, so we have to refill them," said warehouse manager Janette Hoylman.
In addition to toys and monetary donations, there's something else that would be very helpful: more volunteers.
"To be able to part of something greater than yourself, it's just the best feeling ever," said volunteer Tony Brocato.
Volunteers like Brocato could use some extra help bringing joy to children in need.
"When families come in and you say, 'Okay, you have a 5-year-old boy and 8-year-old girl. What do you want?,' and they say anything, it just touches your heart," Hoylman said. "And when you can help those kind of people, that's why you're here. That's why we do it."
Last year, the Harford County warehouse alone distributed more than 57, 000 toys throughout the county.
The goal is to collect enough toys a week before Christmas to be able to deliver them in time.
Click here for more information on how to donate to Toys for Tots.
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