(WAND) — Every year, as many as one in five children go without a gift during the holidays.
Over the past 15 years, over 80,000 toys have been donated to the children of central Illinois so they could have a gift to open — all thanks to you.
"We love helping the kids, we love helping the community," Chief of the South Wheatland Fire Protection District Tom Williams, said. "If we can give back to the public and the community, that's what it's about. If we can put a smile on a child's face, that's what our firefighters and community likes."
Volunteers spent the chilly day collecting and counting toys, all to benefit Macon County Toys for Tots.
Josh Welch, the Illinois Operations Supervisor for Storage Masters, added, "We feel it's important that every kid should have a toy if at all possible this year, so we're going to do everything we can to make sure that happens."
Companies and organizations made sure to incentivize their employees to donate to a good cause, too.
"We gave them the option to not shave during the month of December if they were willing to donate $30 to Toys for Tots," said Sgt. Ronald Atkins of the Macon County Sheriff's Office. "Just to be able to help make these kids Christmases merry is such a rewarding experience."
In all 2024 Spirit of Giving collected 7,877 toys.
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