Generous givers fill 12 buses and 3 trucks with holiday toy donations
By Orange County on December 13, 2019
People hoping to pass on their holiday cheer to children in need donated 12 busloads of toys, games and other gifts, and three stake bed trucks full of bicycles on Friday, Dec. 13, at the annual Stuff-A-Bus toy drive.
The event moved from its longstanding location at the Honda Center to the Orange County Great Park in Irvine this year, and that may have thinned the crowds a bit, Orange County Transportation Authority spokesman Eric Carpenter wrote in an email. OCTA puts on the annual event in cooperation with ABC7 and Southland firefighters’ Spark of Love toy drive; the gifts will be distributed via Toys for Tots.
Toys are filled in an OCTA bus during the annual Stuff-a-Bus toy drive at Great Park in Irvine on Friday, December 13, 2019. (Photo by Kyusung Gong/Contributing Photographer)
Toys are filled in an OCTA bus during the annual Stuff-a-Bus toy drive at Great Park in Irvine on Friday, December 13, 2019. (Photo by Kyusung Gong/Contributing Photographer)
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Attendees walk to drop off their toys to donate during the annual Stuff-a-Bus toy drive at Great Park in Irvine on Friday, December 13, 2019. (Photo by Kyusung Gong/Contributing Photographer)
Workers from Acer drop off their toys off during the annual Stuff-a-Bus toy drive at Great Park in Irvine on Friday, December 13, 2019. (Photo by Kyusung Gong/Contributing Photographer)
Zackary Sandoval, right, and Reighan Tolson load toys in a OCTA bus during the annual Stuff-a-Bus toy drive at Great Park in Irvine on Friday, December 13, 2019. (Photo by Kyusung Gong/Contributing Photographer)
Skip and Kandi Payne walks to load their toys during the annual Stuff-a-Bus toy drive at Great Park in Irvine on Friday, December 13, 2019. (Photo by Kyusung Gong/Contributing Photographer)
A LAFD firefighter loads toys during the annual Stuff-a-Bus toy drive at Great Park in Irvine on Friday, December 13, 2019. (Photo by Kyusung Gong/Contributing Photographer)
“It definitely took a little more effort to find the new location, but we are so thankful for the space at the Great Park and thankful to the people that took the time to bring by a toy, or a trunkful of toys,” Carpenter wrote.
Though the number of buses filled fluctuates year to year, Orange County typically gathers more toys than related events in Los Angeles and Ventura counties or the Inland area, organizers said.
Now in its 27th year, the Spark of Love drive has brought in more than 10 million toys for children in Southern California.
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