Winnipeg holiday toy drive low on donations, Salvation Army says

The Salvation Army says it needsWinnipeggers to dig a little deeper to help make the holidays special for kids this year.

The organization is slightlybehind where it was this time last yearin itsannual Toy Mountain campaign, said Maj.Rob Kerr.

"I'm hoping we can make that up and we can still push forward and get the community to give us a little more support here," he said.

Nearly 11,000 toys have been donated and the goal is topull in a total of 15,000 by Christmas.

• Annual Christmas toy drive starts in Winnipeg

"Registrations are coming in fast and furious still, so our numbers are growing as far as the need goes," Kerr said.

"We've got a lot of kids that are looking to the Salvation Army to get them toys this Christmas. In fact, we could be approaching almost 11,000 children asking us for toys."

Kerr said he and others involved with the toy drive understand people are on a budget around the holidaysbut he believes Winnipeggers are always capable of finding a way to help others in times of need.

Kerr brought up the story of a father of three who lost everything in an apartment fire four years ago, a week before Christmas.

"He and his three young children found themselves out on the balcony. He didn't know what he was going to do; he didn't know how to get out of there; he didn't see the fire trucks yet and he was panicking," Kerr said.

"They got them down [and]they were safe but they had nothing [left]."

Kerr said Salvation Army visited the fatherand his kids on Christmas morning where they were thenstaying and brought them toys and food.

"He saw us this year.He's been back, he's still so thankful for that," Kerr said.

"It's not always a chronic situation. It's not always a life that's had a lot of hard hits.Sometimes life goes sideways really fast and you don't see it coming."

While the Salvation Army is looking for toys for all age groups, Kerr said they're generally lowest on items for kids under the age of three and between the ages of 10 and 12.

"If you're stuck and you don't know what to buy, you can always make a cash donationbecause that allows us to go and buy the things that we know we need," Kerr said.

"We will do whatever we can to make sure we have enough toys. We just keep working and working to find resources as best we can to make sure we have the toys we need. But we start by just asking the folks of Winnipeg to be generous and help us help others."

Donations can be dropped off at any Winnipeg fire department or Scotiabank branch, Kerr said.