City of Toledo employees preparing for WTOL 11 Gift of Joy drive

TOLEDO, Ohio — Each year, we have the honor of hosting our WTOL 11 Gift of Joy downtown gift drop.

The toys and gift cards collected ensure foster children in Lucas County have presents during Christmas.

There’s one group of city employees who go big every year and they’re already planning to top last year’s donations.

Paul Cooper and Mike Kimble are starting early.

“We’re getting it done, we’re getting it taken care of right now,” Kimble, an employee of Road and Bridge Maintenance at the city of Toledo, said.

It may sound crazy, but they have a method and it’s all to help the kids.

“There are too many kids in the system that go without and no child should go without,” Cooper, Toledo’s Fleet Operations employee, said.

They’ve been collecting toys for the last 10 years, In 2022, they dropped off a truck’s worth of toys at the WTOL gift drop.

It’s a cause that hits close to home, which is why they pay it forward.

“I grew up with very little,” Kimble said. I swore to myself, if I could help it, no child would go without.”

To top 2022’s collection, they’re holding a benefit concert on Nov. 18 at Leroy and Margarets, a bar on Heatherdowns Boulevard in south Toledo.

It won’t cost anything to get in, but they’re asking that you bring a toy or make a donation.

They have also partnered with restaurant Bubba’s 33 to help with collections. If you drop off a toy at their location on Secor Road in west Toledo, you’ll get a free pizza.

“We want to make this an extravaganza,” Kimble said. “Nothing for us. We just want these kids to feel like, wow.”

They say they’re thankful for the people who bring them toys because it will help more than a thousand kids in the area.

“If I can bring joy to a child’s face, albeit a day or two, for a gift it’s worth it,” Cooper said.

Just one toy can make Christmas special.

Collections haven’t officially started for them, but they say they already have seven or eight boxes of donations.