Toys for Tots start donations push early this year

(ABC 6 News) – Area non-profits are gearing up a little early this year to help out kids and families in need this holiday season and Toys for Tots is no exception.

With supply chain issues, and the ongoing pandemic organizers say they’re kicking things off a little early this year to make sure they can help out as many people as they can.

"We going to try and keep things as normal as possible, you know right now seems like things are starting to calm down a little bit. We’re not planning on quarantining our toys this year like we did last year, if things start to spike we’ll take a look at it making some changes as necessary," Southeast MN Toys for Tots coordinator
1st Sgt. Vince Reynolds

Reynolds said last year they had a banner year, collecting 23-thousand toys and handing them out to kids in six southeastern Minnesota counties.

This year, they’re hoping to hit 20 to 30 thousand toys. Their goal already started off with a strong start Monday evening with companies like American Waterworks matching donations that were collected at Fleet Farm.

Fleet Farm donated $4,000 in toys along with a $500 gift card, and other donations topped over $10,000 in toys and checks.

If you’d like to help, you can drop toys off at any location that has a Toys for Tots box including our studio in Rochester.

For more information on how to donate and drop-off locations, click here.