KC Toys for Tots faces record 60K requests this Christmas: ‘It’s pretty daunting’
In a year when some Kansas City area families have struggled to put food on the table, concern now turns to whether their children will have presents under the tree.
With just a few weeks left until Christmas, one of the largest toy drives in the area is reaching out to the community after receiving an all-time high number of requests this year. The Marine Toys for Tots campaign — which provided toys for more than 50,000 area children last year — needs to meet the need of more than 60,000 kids this year.
“It’s pretty daunting,” said Staff Sgt. Cristian Martinez, the Kansas City region Toys for Tots Marine coordinator. “Seeing the additional 10,000, I was kind of taken aback, just because, you know, it was a lot more than what the campaign usually gets here in Kansas City.”
It’s why the Marines and the Overland Park Convention Center — the region’s largest donation hub for the toy drive — are trying to spread that word that an increased number of donations are needed this year to make sure all the requests are granted.
Though toys are coming in, organizers say, they know they’re going to need many, many more. People can find out about the campaign, and how they can help, at the Kansas City Toys for Tots website.
The number of requests for the annual toy drive has increased significantly over the past five years. In 2021, about 29,000 requests for toys came in. The next year, that jumped to 40,000 and then to more than 48,000 in 2023.
And though the needs have been met, 2024 was tight, said Britaney Wehrmeister, of the Overland Park Convention Center.
“We had to really scrape by to meet the demand last year,” Wehrmeister said.
That, along with the 10,000 additional toys needed for this Christmas, contributes to the new sense of urgency.
‘Calling on the community’
The campaign collects toys for children up to age 17. For this Christmas, the greatest need is for babies and toddlers, both boys and girls.
Another need centers around teens and preteens. Specific needs for those ages include backpacks and board games, sporting equipment and balls as well as hand-held electronics.
Other ideas: purses, cosmetics, watch/wallet gifts and curling irons and hair straighteners, as well as hair dryers.
Unopened and unwrapped new toys or presents for older kids will be accepted between now and Dec. 11 at the Overland Park Convention Center, 6000 College Boulevard. Donations can be dropped off at the center’s main entrance off of 110th Street where signs will direct people to the exact area. The center won’t be open Thanksgiving or the day after.
Donation boxes will also be available at the entrances.
“We’re calling on the community once more,” said Brett C. Mitchell, general manager of the Overland Park Convention Center, in an emailed release. “Kansas City has always shown incredible generosity, and we know our region will step up again to meet this record need. Every single toy truly matters.”
All donations dropped off at the Overland Park Convention Center stay within the Kansas City area and go to local families, organizers say.
‘A magic Christmas’
This is the first toy drive campaign that Martinez is coordinating, but the Marine staff sergeant said he knows how important having a toy at Christmas is.
“It’s a magical moment and feeling when you grow up as a kid,” Martinez said. “When you think of the holidays you think of doing presents on Christmas.”
That’s part of the message, he says, that can be relayed to the community this time of year.
“Hey, just imagine you as a kid growing up getting toys,” Martinez said, referring to the shared message. “And now imagine 60,000 kids this year not getting a toy, not feeling that same feeling I did getting a toy. ... Not just the kids, but also the families, seeing (their) kids getting toys.”
Martinez remembers growing up in Texas when one year — he was between the ages of 8 and 12 then — he received a gift from the Marine Toys for Tots campaign. He got a remote control dragonfly.
“It’s one of those things,” he said, “where you don’t realize what resources are out there and also just the care in the community.
“You expect your parents being the ones to do it for you, but then also seeing the elders, members of the community who also care about you and are willing to make sure you have a magic Christmas.”
Martinez knows the next couple of weeks will be busy, spreading the word and collecting toy donations. But he said he’s confident that the kids in the area whose families signed up for the toy drive will have something to open this year.
“Marines make mission,” Martinez said. “We make it happen. So, it’s going to happen.”
