Toys for Tots Drive runs through Sunday, aiming to break last year’s record

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Time is running out to donate to the News10NBC Toys for Tots Holiday Drive. The drive runs through Sunday, Dec. 15, and is aiming for another record-breaking year.

As of Friday morning, the seventh annual drive has collected nearly 80,000 for children in need. The goal is to collect 100,000 toys, which would break last year’s record of over 90,000 toys. Last weekend, volunteers filed a U-Haul in Canandaigua with hundreds of toys to make sure every child has a toy to open this holiday season.

Organizers are looking for new, unwrapped toys for all children, and newborns all the way up to age 16. There are 760 drop-off boxes across Western New York. You can see a list of drop-off boxes and learn more here.

The Toys for Tots program began in 1947. The United States Marine Corps Reserve manages and distributes the toys to families. More than 43,000 children in the Rochester area received toys in 2023 because of the drive.