CHARLESTON, W.Va. – The Charleston Police Department hopes to bring some holiday cheer to kids in need this season, bringing back its annual Winter Wonderland Toy Drive this weekend.
Friday through Sunday, the police department will be accepting donations of new, unwrapped toys at Sam’s Club on Mountaineer Boulevard from 9am until 8pm.
“We’ve been able to reach hundreds of children each year so we’re excited to keep that trend going. We’ll be up at the Southridge Sam’s Club this year on the parking lot, taking toys this weekend,” CPD Sgt. Travis Bailes said.
The toy drive is the brainchild of now-retired CPD Lt. David Payne. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Payne came up with the idea for the drive out of necessity.
“It was during COVID. I reached out to our FOP organization to see if we had money for ‘Shop With a Cop’ and that year they didn’t have any money and I said, basically, I never really wanted us to be in that position again where we couldn’t go out and help kids,” he said.
The demand for toys collected during the drive hovers around four figures after last year’s event. The police department distributed a large number of toys to families that signed up for assistance and even more to organizations that needed them.
“We basically had about 800 kids that signed up but we also gave toys to our community centers, our daycares. So many toys went out last year. It was huge. I would say probably close to a thousand,” Payne said.
Families can sign up to receive toys collected during the drive next week after the police department determines how many toys it can distribute. The goal is to assist as my people as possible.
“We will open that up on there for anybody to sign up. They can list how many kids they have, their ages. Until we’re full, we will help as many kids as we can,” Bailes said.
More information, including how to make an online donation, is available on the Charleston Police Department Facebook page.