Local Toys for Tots group needs help to continue good work

The South-Central Kentucky Toys for Tots Campaign does a lot of good for the Tri-County and its adjoining areas, providing thousands of underprivileged children with presents during the holidays. And with the campaign’s steadied growth over the past few years, they are themselves in as much need of help as ever.

Greg and Cathy Sims, the campaign’s coordinators, invest a healthy portion of their time in devotion to Toys for Tots, especially once their campaign officially kicks off on Oct. 1 each year. Now in their sixth year operating the campaign, the Sims are currently full swing on this year’s campaign as their deadline looms just a few weeks away.

Though there may always be a new set of challenges that come with running such an operation, there’s almost always a constant, which is a need for more—money, toys and volunteers.

Traditionally, the campaign distributed directly to individual families as well as schools, churches and other local agencies. This year, the campaign has decided to eliminate working directly with families, instead electing to require families to sign up through their school, church, etc.

“When you do individual families, there’s always people you miss. And there’s people that place orders and never come to pick them up,” said Cathy Sims. “We’re not missing kids now.”

There was also an issue of some families collecting more than once, by getting toys directly from the campaign and then elsewhere through another agency. And while the change makes sense in order to ensure every child that needs toys is able to get them, it has also become almost necessary due to the number of children the campaign now covers.

When the Sims took over the campaign in 2017, it only covered the Tri-County and had a distribution of less than 500 children. Since that time, Greg and Cathy Sims have continued to grow their campaign exponentially, helping ensure that more children than ever are getting toys for the holidays.

Today, the Sims’ campaign continues to service the Tri-County, but now also includes Clay, Leslie and McCreary Counties, as well as Campbell County just across the state line in Tennessee, and is expected to have a distribution of just under 12,000 children this year. That number, however, doesn’t account for late registrations or any children outside of their campaign area that they may end up providing for.

According to the Marine Toys for Tots Foundation’s website, the South-Central Kentucky Campaign is among the largest in the state, distributing more than three times the amount of toys to three times as many children as campaigns in larger locales like Lexington and Richmond. In fact, the Sims’ campaign is only dwarfed by a few other campaigns within Kentucky, such as those in Louisville and the Cincinnati, Ohio area.

During this time of year, the small warehouse area the Sims’ operate their campaign out of becomes a stage for that of equal parts madness and ingenuity, as toys relentlessly funnel into and out of their staging area being sorted and processed for pickup. And while it’s not quite like a well-oiled machine, doing all the work with a primary core of four volunteers, the campaign is efficient in keeping up with demand.

“Toys go through here like they’re water,” said Cathy Sims.

Many local businesses and organizations hold toy drives or inter-company competitions to collect toys that are then donated to the Sims’ campaign. Other businesses allow boxes to be put out for both money and cash donations to be collected or ask patrons to round up purchases to donate the proceeds.

There’s also a number of larger employers in the area who provide a large number of the South-Central Kentucky Campaign’s toys through direct donation. According to Greg Sims, approximately 80 percent of their donated toys are received that way.

But despite the many efforts, the campaign’s continued growth creates a constant need for both monetary and toy donations. Greg Sims said that the campaign has fallen short every single year.

Last year, the campaign was short nearly 9,000 toys running up to their deadline to have everything distributed and had to rely on the national Toys for Tots Foundation to even the gap.

“The foundation wants us—and on the same token, we want us to also—to function on our own,” said Greg Sims. “We try to collect as much money and as many toys as we need to cover the kids, but the foundation does not allow us to fail. We need toys? They will send us toys.”

There are still a few weeks left until the end of this year’s campaign, but as of Tuesday, the Sims’ campaign has distributed 13,993 toys and 5,157 books to just under 5,500 children. Greg Sims also noted that he had just placed an order for another 6,000 more toys.

While donations are accepted all year, only those received by December 18 will be able to help with this year’s campaign. Any toys or money received after that date will be put toward next year’s effort.

To donate quickly and easily, you can scan the QR code that accompanies this story, which will take you directly to the online donation form. You can also go to the campaign’s website at www.southcentral-ky.toysfortots.org and select “Ways To Donate” at the top of the page. There is also a list of drop sites where boxes have been placed for toy donations on their website. Only new toys are accepted.

Additionally, anyone who wishes to volunteer can do so at the campaign’s website by hovering over “Get Involved/Volunteer” at the top of their page and selecting “Sign Up to Volunteer” from the drop-down box.

A list of the campaign’s local and corporate sponsors can also be found on their website.