Stealing Back Christmas Gets One Last HUGE Boost

Weeks ago, Mid-Mo was in shock as someone stole from Toys for Tots. And we jumped into action launching “Stealing Back Christmas”. While Y107 wrapped up our efforts a couple weeks ago, the drive continued in area schools. And the result was nothing short of phenomenal.

A little backstory: After Cosmo and the Y107 morning show talked about thieves breaking into the Toys for Tots storage locker in Fulton, students at Fulton High School knew they could do something to help out our “Stealing Back Christmas” initiative. The National Honor Society, Drama Club, and faculty got together and decided to challenge other schools and other districts to see which school could collect the most toys. At McIntire Elementary, two boys, Thomas and Miles, spearheaded their challenge. 

We heard stories of conversations overheard in toy aisles, where kids were complaining to their parents how they NEEDED to buy the toy for school. Adorable!

When all was said and done, the result was nothing short of spectacular.

Thursday, a bus went around the district picking up the toys. In the end, the 72 passenger bus was completely filled. It took an additional 2 trucks and a car to transport all the toys to the Toys for Tots staging area, who was prepping for the first night of delivery to the more than 800 families who put in applications this year.  Their combined efforts took in almost 10,000 toys.

Once again, we are completely blown away by the community as a whole, across multiple counties, have pulled together to turn this horrendous negative into such an amazing positive!  We’re so proud of the students across all the participating schools who came together to support families in need this holiday and help make the season so bright!  When you combine this donation, with an additional donation from Columbia College, as well as all the boxes throughout the community, and the results from our initial “Stealing Back Christmas” drive, our local Toys For Tots definitely recovered what they lost, and then some, ending with an outstandingly generous year. Melissa Barnes, the local Toys for Tots coordinator, is simply beside herself.

Here’s some more video of the delivery courtesy of KOMU.