Santa’s Toy Drive was a small thought between my husband (Ryan) and I when we started our business (Affordable Dumpsters). Ryan was also driving a school bus at the time and had some kids tell him how sad they were that Santa may not make it to their house this year (2021). Ryan immediately came home and told me we needed to come up with a plan to make sure these kids did not go without toys for Christmas.
I absolutely love my husband’s heart for these kids and his determination to serve our community, but I was SHOCKED… We had a little over 6 weeks to come up with a plan, so my first question was “HOW”? HOW do we make sure these kids on your school bus get gifts from Santa and HOW do we even get the toys for them??
Not only that but we can’t leave anyone out!
After brainstorming some ideas, I reached out to my good friend Anna, who owns a non-profit thrift store in Ozark (Garden Gate Provisions), for some advice. When I told Anna about Ryan’s idea to fill a dumpster with toys, she immediately started calling her friends to brainstorm and start spreading the word. Within a day we came up with the plan for Santa’s Toy Drive.
We started wrapping boxes, delivering them, and reaching out. Everything else was falling into place perfectly as God has a plan for everything! Within a week we had a location to host the event, about 20 businesses help gather toys, businesses hosting events to help raise money and donations, photographers, and a SANTA!
Closer to the event we started collecting toys with hopes of filling a 15-yard dumpster. Not only did we fill the ENTIRE 15-yard dumpster, but we also filled 2 SUVs and the truck bed!! Together we raised over 2600 LBS of toys in just under 4.5 weeks!!
It was amazing!
We posted an application on Facebook and shared it with local charities. We were able to fill every application that came to us, plus supply a local women’s shelter with gifts for the kids, last minute foster care placements were able to come gather toys, and we were able to donate to a local birthday charity! All because of the amazing community we live in.
For the upcoming year we are hoping to double our donations from last year and reach more families in the community. So far, we have an even bigger list of businesses participating and we have some amazing volunteers helping to get the word out there. We have an even bigger location, and we are so excited as we get closer to the event date.