Operation Sleighbells toy drive, the founding event of Family and Children’s Services (FCS), will wrap up this week.
The Long Branch-based nonprofit finished up the 101st annual collection last week and will dispense the toys and gifts in the days before Christmas.
Program Coordinator Samantha White explained the drive’s long history.
“We are a holiday giving program, and our agency started with Operation Sleighbells 101 years ago,” she said. “That’s what kind of kicked off our agency.
“We collect new toys, clothing, coats, hats, gloves,” she added. “We help make Christmas wishes come true for the children in these families.”
White estimated that the drive would ultimately benefit 380 Monmouth County residents.
White said in a press release that the need is greater than the resources.
“Since late August, we have fielded more than 400 calls from parents and custodial grandparents who want their children to be included in this year’s drive,” she said. “We’re hopeful we will find an equal number of families and individuals who are willing to help.”
White explained how the families receiving gifts are selected.
“They can be anyone in the community,” she said. “We open up our list at the end of August, and all they have to do is call and leave their name.
“If they are lucky enough to be some of the first callers, then they’ll be on the list,” she added. “We are just so happy that we were able to provide a wonderful Christmas and holiday for so many kids this year.”
She also described that there is a difference in gifts provided for younger children and older children.
“We give toys to kids under the age of 12, and then any kids 13 to 16, we collect and give them gift cards,” White said. “We do the gift cards because we find that we don’t get a lot of clothing in the size for older kids or toys that they are interested in.
“The gift card allows them to go out and buy the gift that they’d like for themselves,” she added.
Some of the stores that gift cards are purchased for include Target, Wal-Mart, Old Navy, Borders and the movie theater.
White said that once the list of families is selected, FCS signs on other local families to sponsor and provide the gifts for those families.
The remaining families that are left without a sponsor will be sponsored with the gifts from the FCS toy drive.
One part of the drive that changes every year is that the FCS selects a different collection site each year.
“We have a different site each year and we don’t release that information until the week before pickup,” she said. “We don’t like to make ourselves a big target … with all these gifts in a big building.”
The FCS website gave some information on the Operation Sleighbells history.
“The agency grew out of the very first Operation Sleighbells effort when a group of Long Branch citizens decided to provide holiday gifts of food, coal, clothes and toys to impoverished children and their families.”
FCS has been a fixture in Long Branch since 1909, and, according to the website, the nonprofit has been “dedicated to creating programs and opportunities that make life a little easier for many struggling through tough times and in need of help and guidance.”
For more information, call 732-222- 9111 or visit the website at www.fcsmonmouth. org.
Contact Kenny Walter at
Volunteers sort through donated clothing and toys to be distributed this week through Operation Sleighbells, the holiday toy drive sponsored by Family & Children’s Services for more than 100 years.