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WARREN -- With the pandemic causing many changes for the holiday season, the Salvation Army of Trumbull County made adaptations this year for its annual toy distribution -- providing gifts for near 800 families.
The toy giveaway was a drive-thru event in the parking lot that started Monday and will continue today, just as its food giveaway was held last week.
Capt. Kiley Williams said for safety, families registered ahead of time and were given designated half-hours to pick up the items, with 40 families each half hour. She said this year they are helping nearly 800 families which is 200 more than last year before the pandemic began. There were 1,800 children who would receive gifts.
Volunteers from First Energy helped to load the bagged Christmas gifts into the backs of vehicles.
"We did applications over the phone this year and parents let us know what their children wanted. The gift requests were placed on angel tags on trees at businesses like Sam's Club and Walmart and the Eastwood Mall. We had churches, and different groups get the gifts," Williams said.
She and others felt the drive-thru was easier since people did not need to come inside the building. Bags of items were tagged with designated numbers for each family.
Tori Veney, a volunteer who handed items to families, said everyone "was very appreciative."
Capt. Chris Williams said while the food and toy giveaways have gone well, the annual Red Kettle campaign has not.
He said the goal is to raise $100,000 this year and currently $56,000 has been collected.
Williams said there is also a virtual Red Kettle giving campaign online through the end of the month at salarmy.us/warrenredkettle. The red kettles will be out through Thursday.
"We have received more than $3,000 virtually, which will help. There are less people going out shopping," he said.
Tom Weller of Warren, a volunteer, said because there is a limit of the amount of people inside the building for safety, fewer volunteers were involved.
"Everything worked well. We had a very dedicated group. We did 400 bags today and will do the rest tomorrow. Last week we helped 1,000 families get food baskets," he said.
Receiving gifts for her family was Tiffany Teemer of Warren.
"This really helps my family. We appreciate what the Salvation Army does," she said.
Lisa Peura and Christy Forester, both with First Energy, spent the day loading bags into the vehicles.
"It was a lot of work but the thanks we received from people made it all worthwhile. I know that people were wearing masks but they had smiles on their faces," said Peura, whose daughter is helping her today.
"It is nice to be able to help those in need. Everyone was very accommodating which helped the day go by fast," Forester said.
bcoupland@tribtoday.com