'Toys for Tots to Teens' underway now, culminates with Dec. 7 Pen High breakfast event

Running from late November through to early December, "Toys for Tots to Teens" is a pre-Christmas Penticton tradition. And a real good one at that, especially in the tough economy of today.

Organized by the students of the Penticton Secondary School Leadership Program under the "Penticton Provides" charitable umbrella, the initiative asks folks from across the community to donate new, unopened, unwrapped toys to kids in need, aged 0 to 18.

They do that by purchasing an extra toy or two while they’re shopping, and then dropping those toys at donation bins located at various spots around town or at the school itself.

Or, if they really want to get into the Christmas vibe, they can hold off donating 'til the school hosts its annual sit-down Toys for Tots to Teens breakfast and Drive-Thru. This year, that'll happen Dec. 7 from 7 to 11 am in Pen High's common area.

There'll be tons of freebie entertainment too and undoubtedly the usual array of cool local people, like firefighters and police officers. It's typically an awesome morning.

One problem. The Toys for Tots to Teens slogan is a bit of a misnomer. The need, you see, goes way beyond just toys.

We chatted with Pen High Leadership students Karoleena Goodjohn and Spencer McRann earlier this week to get the scoop.

"We're looking for toys, definitely," said Goodjohn, "or you can give a monetary donation. Our goal for 2023 is $20,000 and 1,000 toys, so any of the two are greatly appreciated."

The need for non-toy items is just as great. Like earbuds, books or sport gear. Or stuff you might not normally think of, like shaving kits and other grooming essentials like body/face lotion and hairbrushes.

"We also love gift cards," said McRann, making the job easier for everyone.

"Amazon gift cards, iTunes gift cards, music gift cards, that sort of thing," he said. "We'll either give away the cards, or the Leadership students will go shopping with the cards and find gifts we really need."

We asked McRann what happens to the donations once they've been collected.

"We sort it all into categories," he said, "then each non-profit we donate to gives us wish lists of what they think their kids will want. We'll put everything each organization wants into boxes, then their reps pick them up.

"We mostly find non-profits that deal with children and young families, like SOWINS (South Okanagan Women in Need Society) and OneSky Community Resources. We donate to non-profit daycares and hospitals too. And we give back to schools sometimes. Like this year we're aiming to give lots to Queens Park (Elementary)."

For a comprehensive list of wanted items, go to the "Donations" page of the Penticton Provides website here. To safely donate cash to the cause online, go here. To donate items before the Dec 7th breakfast event, drop them in donation bins located at Canadian Tire, Cascades Casino or Penticton Secondary. The bins will be active by end of day today, Dec. 1.

Or just come down to the breakfast event, 7 to 11 am, Thursday Dec. 7, where everything will be accepted and you can say hi to all the folks doing the same thing as you.