PORTLAND, Ore. — Tuesday marks two weeks until Christmas Eve. That means time is running out to donate to our KGW Great Toy Drive. The goal is to collect 50,000 toys this year, but we need the communities help to get there.
There are 450 collection sites where you can drop off your donations. KGW also enlisted some of the best ambassadors for kids: other kids.
Four local schools are collection sites for the KGW Great Toy Drive. That includes Ogden Middle School, Sam Barlow High School, St. Clare School, and Sunset High School Key Club.
At Ogden in Oregon City, siblings Abbi and Charlie Last know what it's like to feel generosity during the holidays. One Christmas, when money was tight, their gifts came from a toy drive.
“I thought that was really cool, because we got some pretty cool stuff. So, I want other kids to be able to have that opportunity,” Abbi said.
This year, they're donating toys from Nerf and Hot Wheels.
“I'm really excited because some 3-year-old or even 7-year-old might open it and be really excited to play,” Abbi said.
“It just makes me feel good,” Charlie said. “And I think other kids would like feeling good and feeling that feeling.”
Some middle schoolers, like Dalilah McTigrit, select gifts base on what they loved when they were younger, like a stuffed animal.
“When I was little, I had a stuffed animal that I carried around with me all the time. It was a stuffed pig and it was my world,” Dalilah said.
At Sam Barlow High School in Gresham, the ASB Student Leadership team is going from class to class recruiting classmates to bring in more toys.
“We should always be giving back to our community and it starts with us,” senior Tony Ngyuen said.
“You can focus more on yourselves and kind of forget that a lot of people aren't as blessed as you and don't have as many opportunities during the holiday season. So, it's nice to create opportunities for other people,” junior Bridget Aguirre said.
“It makes me feel like Santa sometimes,” Tony said.
At Portland's St. Clare School, the student council is playing Santa too. They’re halfway to their goal of 200 toys.
At each of the school’s lessons are learned through giving.
“It's super important for students to realize there's a greater world out there and a bigger perspective to look at. To serve their community and to serve those in need is important,” Sam Barlow High School Principal Bruce Schmidt said.
The KGW Great Toy Drive supports 130 local nonprofits and will reach thousands of local kids.
You can drop off new unwrapped toys at hundreds of collection sites or donate online.
Learn more about how you can get involved at kgwtoy.com.