A few hours before the house wakes.
So that no child wakes up to nothing—
but to something.
Joey’s Toy Drive is a volunteer-run Bay Area Christmas toy drive. Thirteen Decembers in, we are still chasing one quiet morning at a time.
It started with one kid and a stack of handmade flyers.
Years ago, a kid in San Jose drew flyers by hand and went door to door asking neighbors for new toys. The first haul was a few boxes.
For years, every toy went to the Marines’ Toys for Tots. Then the drive grew up — its own warehouse, its own trucks, tens of thousands of toys moving through a single December, going straight to Bay Area families.
It has grown every year since. The promise behind it hasn’t moved an inch.
new toys collected in the 2025 drive
Bay Area counties reached on Toy Day
partners, Fortune 500s among them
Decembers, still 100% volunteer-run
One warehouse, one season — tens of thousands of toys, counted and sorted by hand.
Joey’s Toy Drive exists so that no child in our community wakes up to nothing on Christmas morning.
Our mission, since 2012Started by Joey Childs at age 8 — San Jose, California
Ask what the toys are really for, and the answer isn’t toys.
“It’s more than us filling their car with toys and putting a smile on their faces. It’s giving them hope, and it’s making them feel loved and listened to.”
It was never just one kid.
The drive is run by young people — students who give their weeknights and weekends to it, outside school and jobs.
Behind them is a Bay Area network that hosts its own drives and sends every toy to San Jose — companies, schools, and faith communities, Fortune 500s and small teams alike. And it’s starting to spread, as neighbors bring the drive to their own towns.
A few of about 120 partner organizations a season.
Three ways to put something under a tree.
The gifts that run out first are the ones for teenagers — the kids people stop shopping for at thirteen. Here are three ways to make sure no child, little or big, wakes up to nothing.
Nine counties, find a drop-off near you.
Every toy collected across the Bay Area returns to San Jose, then goes back out to a local child. Drop one off at any location below — or ship from the Amazon wish list.
The season has a shape.
It opens quietly in November and ends in a warehouse full of color. Three dates hold the whole thing together.
November 1
The drive opens
Collection boxes go up across the Bay Area and the first toys start coming in.
December 18
Last drop-off
The final day to donate. After this, every toy is counted, sorted, and readied by hand.
Late December
Toy Day
The toys go out across all nine counties — in time for Christmas morning.
Help every child wake up to something.
One toy is one morning changed. The drive runs on people who decide that’s worth a trip to the store.