Joey’s Toy Drive
A young boy in a Santa hat carries the new toy he just received, walking out of the Joey's Toy Drive warehouse

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.

Give a toyOur story
The Joey's Toy Drive warehouse mid-season, stacked with thousands of wrapped gifts beside a branded collection box

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.”

Joey Childs — founder
A volunteer hands a wrapped toy through a car window to a young girl reaching out for it on distribution day
Distribution day in San Jose — what “something” looks like, handed through a car window.

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.

A group of student volunteers holding a Joey's Toy Drive sign at their school's collection drive
A student-run drive — one of about 120 across the Bay Area.

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.

Give a toy

One new, unwrapped toy for a child aged 0 to 17. Drop it at our San Jose warehouse, or order from the wish list and have it sent straight to the drive.

Give a toy

Host a drive

Set up a collection box at your office, school, or gym. We send a starter kit, and we pick up donations of 50 or more, free.

Host a drive

Spread the word

Tell a coworker, post it, forward this page. Reach is the cheapest gift of all — and it is the one that fills the gaps.

See the impact

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.

  1. November 1

    The drive opens

    Collection boxes go up across the Bay Area and the first toys start coming in.

  2. December 18

    Last drop-off

    The final day to donate. After this, every toy is counted, sorted, and readied by hand.

  3. 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.

Give a toyHost a drive