County of Santa Barbara gears up for Toys for Tots collection drive

SANTA BARBARA COUNTY, Calif. – The County of Santa Barbara is launching its annual Toys for Tots campaign, inviting residents to drop off new unwrapped toys at designated locations, aiming to support low-income children in the community through the Unity Shoppe.

The county provided the following press release:

The County of Santa Barbara is actively collecting Toys for Tots.  Dropoff boxes can be found in the lobby of the County Administration Building at 105 E. Anapamu Street, Santa Barbara and in the lobby of the Joseph Centeno Betteravia Government Administration Building at 511 East Lakeside Parkway, Santa Maria.  All toys collected through the Toys for Tots campaign will stay in our community and will be distributed to low-income needy children through the Unity Shoppe.

Santa Barbara County Supervisors will be Topping Off the Box at the Board of Supervisors meeting on December 12, 2023 in Santa Barbara.

The boxes will be picked up on December 15, 2023.  County employees and the public are encouraged to drop off new unwrapped toys in the boxes.  The public can also find the Toys for Tots boxes at Santa Barbara County fire stations. Toys can be dropped off anytime between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., seven days a week.

Toys for Tots began in 1947, when Major Bill Hendricks, USCR, and a group of Marine reservists in Los Angeles collected and distributed 5,000 toys to needy children. The 1947 pilot project was so successful that the Marine Corps adopted Toys for Tots in 1948 and expanded it into a nationwide campaign.

For more information about the County of Santa Barbara government organization, go to www.countyofsb.org.

For more information on the Unity Shoppe, go to Welcome - Unity Shoppe.

For more information on Toys for Tots, go to Home - Toys for Tots.