The 2010 Toys for Joy program brought both toys and joy to children for Christmas.

The Kent Fire Department, Kent Firefighters Local 1747 and the Kent Firefighters Foundation collected donations of toys from local families and businesses and delivered 5,500 toys to the Kent Food Bank Dec. 22.

The toys helped brighten the holidays for more than 2,500 children. Because the Kent Fire Department also serves the unincorporated area east of Kent, as well as Covington, many toys were also donated to the Maple Valley Food Bank.

Hundreds of people turned out to wrap the gifts and deliver them, according to the program coordinator Firefighter Justin Schauer.

“We were stunned by the number of people that helped wrap the gifts,” Schauer said. “The generosity of our community and their willingness to help those less fortunate is amazing.”

Schauer noted two companies were critical to the program’s success: Door to Door Storage, donating the pods for storing toys and USF Reddaway, donating the use of a large semi trailer to store the wrapped gifts and delivering the toys to the food banks.

Schauer said, “Last year the Toys for Joy program delivered approximately 5,000 toys for 2,100 children. The increase in the number of needy children for 2010 is an indicator that the economic woes of the last few years continues. The bright side is that people and businesses recognized that need and found it in their hearts to increase their donations.”

The Toys for Joy program has existed for over 20 years and has worked to provide for those in need during the holiday season. The firefighters look forward to continuing that tradition next year and for many years to come.

The Kent Fire Department, Kent Firefighters Local 1747 and the Kent Firefighters Foundation sent out a thank you to all who helped make the 2010 Toys for Joy program a success.