Charlotte Toys for Tots Needs 23,000 More Gifts Before Wednesday Deadline

Toys for Tots in Mecklenburg County has collected just 7,000 toys this holiday season. They need 23,000 more to reach their goal. This year brought a record number of families asking for help, and the Wednesday, Dec. 10 deadline looms.

Requests from families have doubled since last year. Volunteer Carlo Mabini walks through a warehouse that should be overflowing with donations. Instead, it sits bare.

"Last year when I was here volunteering, that side is full around this time of the year," Mabini said, per Spectrum Local News. "As you can see, it's empty."

Mabini has given his time to the program for a decade. Never before has he questioned whether they'd finish what they started.

"We are in desperate need of toys, especially in the older age group," said Mabini. "You know, it's coming close to less than two weeks before we do our distribution. So we really need toys."

Planning began months ago, but nobody predicted this wave of requests. Distribution begins in under two weeks. The clock ticks down.

"There is no safety net," said Mabini. "So we really rely on the community to support us to be able to provide for the kids this Christmas."

Kelly Lambert runs Carolina Christmas Angels, a nonprofit in Cabarrus County that also faced unprecedented demand this year. She arranged presents for 275 children, then sent her surplus to Toys for Tots.

"I used to utilize these organizations. I was a single parent," Lambert told the news station. "And for me to give back is fabulous."

Her small nonprofit can't bridge this gap alone. Lambert urges everyone nearby to contribute whatever they can manage.

"If you can donate, even if it's one toy, one toy will make a difference to the 30,000 kids that may not get something, or 23,000 kids," said Lambert. "That's still a bigger number than we should have."

Drop-off bins sit scattered across the county, waiting. Online donations work too through the organization's website. But time runs short - everything must arrive by Wednesday, Dec. 10.