NBC4 hosts 46th annual Firefighters 4 Kids Toy Drive

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- Another successful year of collecting toys for central Ohio children in need is in the books. On Saturday, NBC4 hosted its 46th annual Firefighters 4 Kids Toy Drive along with community partners.

“Just knowing that we make a difference. If we didn’t do this some kids wouldn’t get Christmas so it’s a big deal for us,” said Chris Williams, a donor at Shaffer Entertainment. Thousands of toys were collected from the community and this all started back in the 1970’s.

Columbus firefighter, Mike Mullins, had an emergency call to a home. There were young children but no presents under the tree. That’s when the toy drive was born and the rest is history. “First year we did it in '78, we did 25 food baskets,” Mullins said. He said he never would have imagined that the drive would gain this much support.

“It snowballed but Columbus is a giving community and that’s helped a lot,” he said. The NBC4 team knows that none of this would be possible if it weren’t for the community’s help including our partners at CME Federal Credit Union, CAS, the Columbus Division of Fire and every single donor.

“We have an opportunity to help and I feel like if we didn’t, we’d be doing a disservice to the community,” said Williams. It was a day full of holiday cheer and even Santa was there supporting the cause. Some donors have spent months collecting toys, including Theresa Williamson. “We have gathered about $14,000 worth of toys, bikes, and razor scooters,” she said.

This year’s drive had some extra meaning for Williamson. She brought a trailer full of toys in honor of her husband, David Williamson, who died last year. He was a firefighter and she said he loved coming to the toy drive each year.

“It makes me feel good. It makes me think he's shining down on us and, you know, smiling that we're continuing this,” said Williamson. If you missed the Firefighters 4 Kids Toy Drive, it’s not too late to donate. You can drop off unused, unwrapped toys at any Franklin County fire station up until Christmas Eve or You can donate online right now by credit card at cmefcu.org.

Check or money order donations are also accepted:
CME Federal Credit Union
Attn: Firefighters 4 Kids Toy Drive
365 S. Fourth Street
Columbus, Ohio 43215 If you need assistance this holiday season from Firefighters 4 Kids, you can contact an agency to sign up to receive toys from Firefighters 4 Kids at Firefighters4Kids.com.