{"id":56812,"date":"2025-11-22T17:05:11","date_gmt":"2025-11-22T17:05:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/56812\/"},"modified":"2025-11-22T17:05:11","modified_gmt":"2025-11-22T17:05:11","slug":"central-floridas-toys-for-tots-need-is-critical-heres-how-you-can-help","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/56812\/","title":{"rendered":"Central Florida\u2019s Toys for Tots need is critical \u2014 Here\u2019s how you can help"},"content":{"rendered":"

ORLANDO, Fla. \u2014 The warehouse in Orlando is filled with empty boxes.<\/p>\n

While donations are coming in, organizers say they\u2019re only at about 25% of their goal and Christmas is just over four weeks away.<\/p>\n

Toys for Tots, run by the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, is serving nearly 8,000 families and 153 nonprofits across Orange, Osceola, and Seminole counties this year. That\u2019s a 15% jump from last year and they need 115,000 new, unwrapped toys** to make sure every child gets something.<\/p>\n

The biggest needs? <\/p>\n

\ud83d\udc49 Toys for babies and toddlers (ages 0\u20132) <\/p>\n

\ud83d\udc49 Gifts for older kids (ages 11 and up)<\/p>\n

You don\u2019t need to go to the warehouse to help.<\/p>\n

If you can\u2019t drop off a toy, you can buy one online right from your phone.<\/p>\n

Simply visit WFTV 9 Family Connection<\/a>, select your county, and choose a toy bundle. It takes less than a minute.<\/p>\n

You can also drop off new, unwrapped toys at hundreds of collection bins across Central Florida. Deadline to donate in Osceola, Orange and Seminole counties: December 12. Other counties will accept donations through mid-December.<\/p>\n

Toys for Tots also needs red or blue tape (to sort toys by gender) and garbage bags (to pack them up). <\/p>\n

Every toy, every dollar, every minute counts.<\/p>\n

Help make Christmas brighter for a child in need. Visit 9 Family Connection today.<\/a><\/p>\n

Click here<\/a> to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And click here<\/a> to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

TOP STORIES FROM WFTV CHANNEL 9<\/p>\n

\u00a92025 Cox Media Group<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ORLANDO, Fla. \u2014 The warehouse in Orlando is filled with empty boxes. While donations are coming in, organizers…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":56813,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[35133,2652,1060,2777,1191,1047,1061,35131,10273,634,35132,115,139,141,140,10270,24692,1045,144],"class_list":{"0":"post-56812","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-orlando","8":"tag-9_family_connection","9":"tag-central_florida","10":"tag-channel_9","11":"tag-channel_nine","12":"tag-christmas","13":"tag-darlene","14":"tag-eyewitness","15":"tag-family_connection","16":"tag-hugh_mccray","17":"tag-local","18":"tag-marine_corps_reserve","19":"tag-news","20":"tag-orlando","21":"tag-orlando-headlines","22":"tag-orlando-news","23":"tag-q_mccray","24":"tag-toys-for-tots","25":"tag-video","26":"tag-wftv"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56812","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=56812"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56812\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/56813"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=56812"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=56812"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=56812"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}