Local toy drives aim to bring holiday cheer to children all throughout Monterey County.

Growing up on the East Side of Salinas, Ollie Lowe learned at a very young age that Christmas isn’t the same for everybody. Raised by a single mother, Lowe and his siblings found themselves standing in line at the Salvation Army each Christmas.

“I just remember that feeling of hoping, ” Lowe says. “Standing there in line, just hoping there were still some presents left when we got to the front.”

Nowadays, as a successful local businessman and founder of Lowe Packaging Group, Lowe finds himself in a position to give back through the charity toy drive he founded, known as Operation Give Back. Each year for the past 10 years, OGB has placed toy bins at hundreds of local businesses throughout the Central Coast.

“My mother taught me at a very young age that Christmas is about giving,” Lowe says. “It’s about the community coming together and helping those in need. So, now that I’m in a position to be on the other side of that line at the Salvation Army, and teach my daughter Praisia what it’s all about and watch her get more involved, it’s something that means a lot to me.”

If the holiday season has you in the spirit of giving, you’re in luck. There is no shortage of Santa’s helpers in Monterey County – from the widely recognized efforts of the Salvation Army to the longtime holiday cheer brought by Toys For Tots, now in its 75th season. Public sector organizations also take part. Monterey County Regional Fire District, for example, is currently in the midst of its popular annual holiday gift drive benefiting the Kinship Center of Monterey County.

MCRFD Division Chief Justin Reyes has been involved since 1999.

“We’re very proud of what we do here,” Reyes says. “Each year we are able to provide gifts to anywhere from 75 to 150 families through our partnership with Kinship Center.”

Operation Give Back, meanwhile, partners with many different organizations to distribute the collected gifts.

“We’re very grateful to our the elementary schools – like Spreckels – and all the various churches that help us get these gifts not just to underprivileged youth, but in the right hands,” says Lorisa McKelvie Daye, a long-time Operation Give Back organizer. “We want to get the right toys for the right kids that need them most.”

Each year, organizers say, Operation Give Back fills around 750 bins with gifts to be distributed. But, she adds, “to us, it’s not about counting. It’s about doing.”