Dozens of people waited overnight for a chance to bring a donated toy home to their kids. The families who are receiving the toys have kids who attend elementary schools in the Montclair and Ontario areas. Teachers and staff at those schools picked out the families they thought needed the toys the most.
Runners and volunteers with the Ontario Fire and Police departments filled a warehouse full of toys and helped families load up on goods to put under their Christmas tree.
"It's going to make a real big difference - a real big difference. Because right now, my tree don't have nothing under there, nothing. So, this is going to bring a lot," said Ontario resident Virginia Ramirez.
Many of the recipients said they're thankful for those of you trying to make sure local children have the happy holiday they deserve. By the end of the day, 900 area families would have received the toys from the Stuff-A-Bus toy drive.
Our resident Elf Garth Kemp and the whole gang collected 7 1/2 buses full of toys at our last Stuff-A-Bus event at the Westfield Topanga mall in Canoga Park on Friday. Thank you to all of you who came out and supported the cause!
Also Saturday, 1,000 kids were bused to downtown Los Angeles to be treated to a day of fun.
The children participating in "The Day of Learning" event will be taken to various attractions including the California Science Center, the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, the California African American Museum and the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles. They will also be treated to toys from our Stuff-A-Bus toy drive.
There's still time to donate! Garth the Elf will be stuffing more buses on Friday at the Honda Center in Anaheim from 4:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Bring a new unwrapped toy and help a child have a happy holiday season!
Get information and directions to Stuff-A-Bus in Anaheim
You can also text "ABC7" to 80100 to donate $10 to the Spark of Love Toy Drive. The donation will appear on your mobile phone bill.
For 20 years, ABC7 and firefighters from Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and Ventura counties, along with the Los Angeles City Fire Department, have joined forces to run the Spark of Love Toy Drive. This campaign collects new, unwrapped toys and sports equipment for the under served children in our communities.
Toys collected in the respective counties are distributed locally. Last year alone, Spark of Love collected over 500,000 toys within all five counties and we want to top that total this year, so please help the firefighter's ignite a spark of love in a child's heart.
