Lexington Police Chief Terrence Green would like to thank the greater Town of Lexington community who supported our Toys for Tots “Fill the MRAP” campaign which ended successfully with a handover event to the Marines Toys for Tots Foundation at the Town of Lexington Municipal Complex this afternoon. A large box truck and cargo van were filled with donations which will support many families in need this Christmas.
Over the course of the past 2 weeks, officers from the Community Action Team, Lexington Police Department Chaplains, and Volunteers in Police Services (VIPS) members held donation events at Learning Express, Walmart, and Target taking in hundreds, if not several thousand toys, from our community who gave very generously. The Emergency Services Team MRAP vehicle was filled at least five to six times over with these many toys, bicycles, and other gifts.
Monetary donations which surpassed $1,500, were spent at Learning Express and Target with Chief Green, Major Matt Davis, and Community Action Team officers going on shopping sprees to buy toys for children this Christmas. 
We would like to thank Kay Jewelers and PetSmart who gave hundreds of stuffed animals and Morningstar Storage who provided space for toys to be securely kept during this campaign.  International Paper donated several hundred large boxes that were used for packing toys and protected them while in transit from donations events to the Toys for Tots sorting warehouse.
The Columbia area Toys for Tots covers requests from the 6 counties of Lexington, Richland, Saluda, Kershaw, Newberry, and Fairfield. Due to the coronavirus pandemic and how it has affected employment for some, there has been a tremendous need for toys to meet the many requests this Christmas. There have already been over 2,700 requests for toys which will provide gifts for over 6,500 children. Likely also due to the pandemic, toy donations have been less than in years past and the Marines Toys for Tots Foundation will continue to take donations through next Friday, Dec. 18.  
The greatest need for toys this year is for infants, age birth to 2 years old, and children, age 10 to 12 years old as most of the toys donated so far have been for children ages 3 through 9 years old.
If you can donate, please bring a new and unwrapped toy to the Lexington Police Department at 111 Maiden Lane or make a monetary donation on the Columbia Toys for Tots website https://columbia-sc.toysfortots.org/ which will be used to purchase more toys. Toys brought to the Lexington Police Department will be delivered to the Columbia Toys for Tots Dec. 18.