The South-Central Kentucky Toys for Tots Campaign, which services Whitley County and other counties in the area, saw a significant drop in donations this past Christmas season. Coupled with other obstacles, the campaign’s child count fell from the previous two years, but was still able to manage to make the holiday a little brighter for more than 10,000 children.
According to Cathy Sims, the campaign’s coordinator, her campaign was able to provide toys to 10,908 children, amounting to nearly 29,000 toys and books. Sims said that this year’s donations were “very low,” which made for “a very hard year.”
In 2023, Sims’ campaign was able to provide toys to over 13,000 children. In 2022, the campaign provided toys to over 12,000 children.
The campaign has grown significantly over the years since Sims and her husband, Greg, originally took it over in 2017. At that time, the campaign only distributed toys to 500 children.
According to the Toys for Tots Foundation’s website, the South-Central Kentucky Toys for Tots Campaign is among the largest in the state, distributing more than three times the number of toys to three times as many children as campaigns in larger locales like Lexington and Richmond. In fact, Sims’ campaign is only dwarfed by a few other campaigns within Kentucky, such as those in Louisville and the Cincinnati, Ohio area
Sims said that there were several local businesses and organizations that provided donations this past year that helped to alleviate some of the strain from the lower overall donations.
Houchens Industries, Inc. (which includes Save-A-Lot and IGA stores) raised funds through selling the Toys for Tots train cutouts and other means and was able to provide the campaign with $11,000.
“[They] saved us this year,” said Sims.
Other notable donations were received from:
The Mint Gaming Hall – $2,500 and 301 toys
Wildcat Outdoors Adventure – $543, plus toys
Tri-County Elks Lodge in Corbin – $239.29 in cash collection jar
Sims said that she will be providing each of the above with a special acknowledgement later this month.
Additionally, Sims noted that she is in dire need of help for the coming year’s campaign. The campaign currently only has three core volunteers to help take in, sort and bag up toys as they come into the warehouse. Sims is also in need of an assistant to help with some of the administrative duties related to the campaign.
That role will require someone who has adequate amount of time to devote to the campaign, particularly between the months of October and December. Anyone who is interested can contact Sims via email at toysfortotssouthernky@yahoo.com.
