Wright City businesses, churches and schools have started their holiday season with a showing of community spirit, carrying on an annual tradition of collecting hundreds of toys for local families in need this Christmas.

The Wright City community toy drive collects gifts for struggling families who are served by the Wright City Parents As Teachers program, the Wright City Community Food Pantry, and other area agencies. Each year, participating groups have made it a practice to set out thematically decorated barrels for community members to donate toys. They brought all of those barrels together on Dec. 5.

“We had 20 full-to-the-brim barrels, plus we had extra boxes and bags that didn’t fit into barrels. I think it turned out really well,” said toy drive organizer Kelly Hill. “Our participants all do such a great job ... in decorating their barrels and in collecting for this.”

All of the donated toys have been moved to the Wright City Community Food Pantry on North First Street, where a little Christmas shop has been set up for families in need to browse the shelves and pick out gifts for their kids, Hill said. Gifts have already been provided to the adopt-a-family program run by Parents As Teachers, which helps conduct the toy collection, Hill noted.

In addition, donated toys will also be shared with the Turning Point domestic violence shelter again this year, and so many toys have been donated that extras will likely be available for other community organizations or families that need them, Hill said.

“If anyone knows a family that’s in need, have them call me and I’ll have them meet one of us at the pantry to do some shopping,” Hill stated. “Sometimes families don’t know what’s available. There are families out there that we’re not touching.”

Hill can be reached at her Shelter Insurance business office by calling 636-745-2514.

Hill said she wanted to offer special thanks to Big Joel’s Safari and the Dave Heiliger Memorial Foundation, which both donate an exceptional number of toys each year; to Wright City Hardware, which has made a concerted effort to collect monetary donations that employees use to buy toys; to the Wright City firefighters who round up the toy barrels from around town each year; and to all who participated.

Kamie Williams with Wright City Parents As Teachers said she’s impressed at how much smoother the toy collection gets every year, after being started four years ago. She said the amount of toys that were donated had volunteers working for three hours to get them sorted and shelved at the food pantry.

“The community here just never stops giving. It’s such a beautiful community here,” Williams commented. “I’m blessed to be a part of it ... and we’re going to be able to help a lot of families come in and do some shopping for toys.”

Williams said at least 30 families are receiving toy donations directly from Parents As Teachers, and that dozens more families will come through the food pantry’s toy store this month.