There are more than 7,000 children in Orange County living in low-income households. The majority of these children have working parents that find it difficult to make ends meet. The Toy Chest is open to all Orange County residents with children at or below 200% of poverty.
Who is Community Toy Chest For?
In collaboration with Toys for Tots the Community Toy Chest 
provides an opportunity for low income parents to select two to three gifts per child aged 18 or under to ensure that every child in Orange County has something to celebrate during the holidays. We encourage you to donate toys toward this effort.
How Can I help?
Opportunities abound this year for you to Share Your Holiday in Orange County. The Department of Social Services is hosting it’s annual Toy Chest for families experiencing serious economic challenges this season.
The Holiday Program elves are hard at work preparing for Toy Chest, but they couldn’t make it a success without some help from you. This year the Toy Chest will be open Saturday and Sunday, December 20-21 at DSS in Hillsborough (113 Mayo St). The hours will be 10:00am-7:00pm each day and we are asking for at least a 2 hour commitment. We will also be in need of some volunteers to assist with the set-up efforts beginning December 1 (time TBD). Volunteers can help escort parents to pick out gifts for their children or help behind the scenes with sorting and restocking of toys. All escorts must be at least 18; however, we do have some behind the scenes work 13-17 year olds can participate in.
We hope that you enjoyed the experience in the past and will be able to help again this year. If interested in volunteering please email us (info below) with the day/times you are available and a contact phone number. If interested, please try to respond by Friday, December 5 so that we will have an idea of days/times that might need additional coverage.
Starting the last week of November/first week of December, we will need volunteers to help collect toys on a regular basis. We will assign volunteers to monitor specific locations and collect toys as the boxes begin to fill. It would be helpful, but not necessary, if they could commit to collecting toys through Dec 19. Again, it will be easiest if they have access to an SUV or truck as the toys can accumulate quickly.
All volunteers who will be out in the community handling the delivery of boxes or collection of toys will be provided with a volunteer ID badge so that collection sites know they are legitimate volunteers. Don’t hesitate to contact me with any questions (email is best). Thanks!
Please contact DSS volunteer coordinators Kysha Thompson 919.245.2795, kythompson@orangecountync.gov, or Carmen Johnson 919.245.2805, cjohnson@orangecountync.gov
Thanks!