The Dillon Herald is holding their annual toy and food drive again this year with some new partners and new procedures due to COVID-19.
The toy drive will benefit some of Dillon County’s less fortunate families, and the food drive will help some of Dillon County’s neediest veterans.
Dillon County United Way and Palmetto leadersip Dillon County will be partnering with The Dillon Herald on this year’s drive. Longtime partner, East Dillon Baptist Church, opted to no longer participate in the drive.
“We appreciate the many years that East Dillon Baptist Church participated in this drive,” said Johnnie Daniels, General Manager of The Dillon Herald. “However, we are grateful that the Dillon County United Way and Palmetto Leadership Dillon County have stepped up to fill the void. We are excited about working with these organizations to help some of Dillon County’s less fortunate families have a merry Christmas and to help serve the food gap experienced by some of Dillon County’s neediest veterans.”
Toys collected for this year’s drive will be distributed to families who currently reside in Dillon County. Children must attend Dillon County Schools and must reside full-time with the parent or guardian requesting the toys. Applications must be received by 12:00 noon on Wednesday, November 25th. Families will be considered by application only and will be notified no later than December 10th if they will be able to be served. The number of people served is contingent on the number of donations received. Absolutely NO PHONE CALLS will be accepted on the drive or the status of applications. Callers will be automatically disqualified. Toy pick up will be drive-thru on December 11th from 10:00 a.m. until 12:00 noon. Participants must be able to pick up between these hours as there will be no other time for pick up. masks must be worn, and social distancing will be observed. Anyone not picking up toys during these hours will forfeit their allotment, and these toys will be given to another charity.
Food donations will go to Help For Veterans, Inc., a local veterans group, who will distribute it as part of their regular distributions.
Toy donations must be received by 12;00 noon on December 9th. Monetary donations for the toy drive will also be accepted. Checks for the toy drive should be made to the Dillon County United Way and tagged “toy drive”. Donations can be brought to The Dillon Herald office at 505 Highway 301 North, Dillon, or mailed to Toy Drive, c/o The Dillon Herald, P.O. Drawer 1288, Dillon, S.C. 29536.
Due to COVID-19, we can only accept new, unopened packaged toys. We cannot accept stuffed animals or unpackaged toys, etc. Food and monetary donations are being accepted through 5:00 p.m. on December 11th at The Dillon Herald office at 505 Highway 301 North, Dillon. Checks should be made to Help for Veterans, Inc. and can be mailed to Help For Veterans, P.O. Box 1712, Dillon, S.C. 29536.
Food items should be non-perishable and must have a current date. Items should be in good condition. Expired items will not be accepted.
All monetary donations will be used to buy toys and food at Dillon County stores only.
For everyone’s safety, if you have COVID-19, have been exposed to COVID-19, or are feeling sick, please do not drop off a donation this year. Also, if you have any of the above symptoms on the day of pick-up, please designate someone else to pick up your gifts.
With the public’s help, this event can be a success again this year.
