GREENFIELD — Following the closure of Faith Church in Greenfield, the Giving Back Together Toy Drive is looking for a new home base.
For its first three years, the nonprofit used a space in The RECOVER Project building to organize the collected toys. As the donations piled up, the volunteers moved the annual tradition to the church, which provided a larger space to sort through the collected toys before distributing the gifts to hundreds of local families.
According to Heather Taylor, who started the toy drive, in its first year, 20 children received donated toys for Christmas. In 2025, the drive collected gifts for 1,022.
“With the financial hardship that is just increasing more and more every single day, people are unable to feed their children, never mind buy them luxury items. The struggle is so real and it’s so relevant,” Taylor said. “Every year, I’m like, ‘How can I serve more people than I did the last?'”
Now, Taylor is putting out a “call for help to the community” while seeking a new space.
Ideally, the toy drive’s next home would be a free space in Greenfield, Erving or Montague, with the capacity for significant traffic, a front and back door, easy access to public transportation, heating and bathrooms for volunteers, Taylor said. Volunteers would use the space for seven to eight days to organize the large load of donated toys. Although she mentioned schools, office buildings and community buildings as a few potential places to land, she stressed that she can make many spaces work.
“If there’s anybody who’s looking to get involved in something impactful in the community,” Taylor said, “this is a perfect opportunity.”
Taylor started the toy drive in 2013 after meeting a mother with a substance use disorder who had not purchased Christmas presents for her children.
“It just pulled on my heart, and I started collecting gently used toys,” Taylor said.
Growing up, Taylor said she could not always count on presents under the Christmas tree. She hopes the toy drive ensures kids feel the “magic of Christmas” without worrying that Santa may not arrive.
“There were Christmases where my parents chose addiction over Christmas, and I had to explain to my younger siblings why Santa didn’t come. I just don’t want another kid to ever go through that,” she said. “I don’t care if somebody’s sleeping in their car or under a bridge or if you walked out of jail today or if you need to check yourself into detox on Christmas morning. Whatever the case is, come get the [toys] for your kids.”
Along with a new space, Taylor is also seeking donated items for raffle baskets that help the nonprofit raise money to buy new Christmas gifts for kids. Drop-off locations include 33 Spruce St. in Greenfield, 77 Second St. in Turners Falls, 10 Mechanic St. in Shelburne Falls and 88 Brown St. in Athol. To run the toy drive, Taylor is also looking for volunteers to help at events, a great time for teenagers to rack up community service hours, she said.
Taylor and a few volunteers will sell raffle tickets for baskets of donated items at the Community & Veterans Health Fair and Celebration at Mill Brook Crossing in Athol on Saturday, Oct. 3, from 1 to 6 p.m.
The toy drive is also running a raffle for four passes to the Great Wolf Lodge water park. Raffle entries are $10 each and three for $25, and the winner will be drawn on Sunday, Oct. 4. To access the QR code to enter the raffle, visit the Giving Back Together Toy Drive Facebook page at tinyurl.com/ycxza98w.
Taylor encourages anyone who is interested in sharing a space for the toy drive or volunteering to text or leave a voicemail at 413-834-3893.
“This is giving back,” she said. “This is making a difference in people’s lives.”
