Santa Barbara invites the community to help spread holiday joy by donating to the Toys for Tots campaign.

Donation boxes are available in the lobbies of the County Administration Building, 105 E. Anapamu St., Santa Barbara; and Joseph Centeno Betteravia Government Administration Building, 511 E. Lakeside Pkwy., Santa Maria.

All toys collected will stay local and be distributed to children in need through the Unity Shoppe.

Santa Barbara County supervisors will join the effort by presenting toys at the Board of Supervisors meeting Dec. 9 in Santa Barbara.

County employees and community members are urged to drop off new, unwrapped toys by Dec. 17. Collection boxes are also located in front of Santa Barbara County Fire stations.
 
The Toys for Tots tradition began in 1947, when Major Bill Hendricks, USMCR (U.S. Marine Corps Reserve), and a group of Marine reservists in Los Angeles, collected and distributed 5,000 toys to local children.

The program’s success led the U.S. Marine Corps to expand it nationwide the following year, a tradition that continues today, bringing smiles to millions of children each holiday season.

For more about the county of Santa Barbara government organization, visit www.countyofsb.org. For more on the Unity Shoppe, visit Welcome – Unity Shoppe. For more on Toys for Tots, visit Home – Toys for Tots.