TOLEDO, Ohio — Each year, we have the honor of hosting our WTOL 11 Gift of Joy downtown gift drop.
The toys and gift cards collected ensure foster children in Lucas County have presents during Christmas.
There's one group of city employees who go big every year and they're already planning to top last year's donations.
Paul Cooper and Mike Kimble organize a massive effort they call the Joys of Toys. They started early in 2023.
"We're getting it done, we're getting it taken care of right now," Kimble, an employee of Road and Bridge Maintenance at the city of Toledo, said.
It may sound crazy, but they have a method and it's all to help the kids.
"There are too many kids in the system that go without and no child should go without," Cooper, Toledo's Fleet Operations employee, said.
They've been collecting toys for the last 10 years, bringing in truck loads of toys through their work that they generously donate to the WTOL 11 Downtown Gift Drop.
It's a cause that hits close to home, which is why they pay it forward.
"I grew up with very little," Kimble said. I swore to myself, if I could help it, no child would go without."
To top 2022's collection, they added a benefit concert on Nov. 18 at Leroy and Margaret's, a bar on Heatherdowns Boulevard in south Toledo.
Local bands Whitehead/Mac, STREETWIZE, Piggyback Jones, and Nightbird donated their time to perform for attendees, who got in free, but were asked to bring a toy or make a donation.
They also partnered with restaurant Bubba's 33 to help with collections. Anyone who dropped off a toy at the Secor Road in west Toledo got a free pizza during the collection in 2023.
"We want to make this an extravaganza," Kimble said. "Nothing for us. We just want these kids to feel like, wow."
They say they're thankful for the people who bring them toys because it will help more than a thousand kids in the area.
"If I can bring joy to a child's face, albeit a day or two, for a gift it's worth it," Cooper said.
The 2023 Joys for Toys collection brought in enough donations to fill two large trucks, with some extra toys in the backseats. Cooper, Kimble and team used the monetary donations to shop for additional toys at Ollie's Bargain Outlet in west Toledo.
Workers behind the collection drive also hold a raffle each year with prizes ranging from a 7-day stay in a condo anywhere in the continental United States, to a griddle, booze bucket, Android watch, gift cards and more.