KANSAS CITY, Mo — KSHB 41 News and the Salvation Army held the 2024 Season of Hope toy drive Thursday.
It's the fourth year of a partnership to help Kansas City area families during the holiday season.
With it being this close to the holidays, stores were probably packed with last-minute shoppers, but so was the Salvation Army for the drive, with families picking out the perfect gifts for their loved ones.
Mariah Nicholas is a mom of four — two girls and two boys.
Spending Christmas with them means a little more this year. She almost lost her life in a car accident right before Thanksgiving.
"I hydroplaned off the road and slammed into a tree line on my side," Nicholas said. "So, I took the blunt of it but I’m hanging in there."
She signed up for the Season of Hope toy drive to fill a void she couldn’t this Christmas. She says this will take off some of the financial burden.
"I lost my job right before Thanksgiving due to my wreck," Nicholas said. "So, I’m waiting to go back, but without this help, I probably wouldn’t be able to do much."
She’s one of 300 families that will benefit from the drive.
It was set up department style, allowing each family to get a personal shopping experience to pick out toys that their children would like.
"There are a lot of toys that my kids will actually enjoy," said Nina Velazquez, a mom of two. "Usually, I'm very very stressed out because I'm at Walmart in line with 100,000 people and my pocket usually doesn’t have enough to cover everything."
In total, 11,250 toys were donated this year, and each family received gift cards to Aldi's, helping to fill their table and tree.
"They get not just a single toy," Salvation Army Pastor Dawn Windham said. "It's a big toy and a small toy, and stocking stuffers, and books and family games and clothing — it's just amazing."
This event giving more than just hope this holiday season.
"To watch them open, you know more than what I could give them on Christmas this year," Nicholas said. "So, I’m super grateful to the Salvation Army and them helping us."
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