Your City Guide to Holiday Toy and Food Drives

The holidays are a time when we give gifts to our family and friends, but what about those who are less fortunate? This time of year, there are several charities where you can help needy families and spread the joy of the season.

Here are 3 fantastic San Diego charities that will help those in need and make their holiday a little bit brighter.

San Diego's Toys for Tots

The goal of Toys for Tots is to collect new and unwrapped toys throughout the holiday season and distribute them as gifts to less fortunate children in the community. This organization gives families hope, and it helps young people within San Diego be responsible and productive in helping their community.

To participate in Toys for Tots, all you have to do is bring an unwrapped toy to one of the many toy drop-off locations in your area. The Toys for Tots website has many locations where people can drop off toys, but there are two major collection events going on in San Diego this month. On December 11th, during the Chargers-Bills game at the Poinsettia Bowl, Toys for Tots will be accepting donations. In addition, on December 21st, Qualcomm Stadium will be taking toys. If these two events do not work for you, then you can donate to most Toy "R" Us stores in San Diego. If you want a location closer to your home, then you can look up a location on the Toys for Tots website at www.toysfortots.com. Toys for Tots also accepts cash donations.

San Diego Law Enforcement Teddy Bear Drive

If you are looking to help out by spreading holiday cheer, then this charity is for you. This charity benefits children at the Rady Children's Hospital. From now until December 12th, San Diego’s regional law enforcement collects new, stuffed animals with the tags still attached to be donated later to Rady’s Hospital. This charity started when Officer Brian Hardy saw only a few toys in the toy bin at the hospital back in 1990. When he was at the Plaza in Bonita doing his own holiday shopping, he noticed a sign for 50 % off of teddy bears in a window. He remembered the nearly empty bin and decided to buy a dozen of them. He delivered these bears to the hospital in a patrol car.

Every year, Officer Brian Hardy continued to deliver teddy bears to Rady Children's Hospital with the help of various corporations and sports teams. The idea is to not just bring a smile to children spending the holidays in the hospital, but to also enhance the healing process and give children a chance to interact with a police officer. For drop off locations, you may check the website at sandiegoregionalteddybeardrive.com

San Diego Food Bank

Donating food to needy families is a great way to help those who are less fortunate during this time of year. There are many ways to give food to those who don't have enough this holiday season, and one way is through the San Diego Food Bank.

Right now, the San Diego Food Bank has paired up with Vons to give food to a needy family. At the checkout counter, you can donate $7 for a pre-filled food bag that you just drop off in charity bin on your way out of the store. You may also make a donation online in a friend's name, or you can a donate in cash online. Every $1 donated will provide five meals for people in need.

There are several other programs that are working with the San Diego Food Bank in order to provide sustenance to families, such as Jer’s Chocolates. This local maker of gourmet peanut butter chocolate candies will donate $5 of every Holiday gift box sale to the food bank.

Escondido Public Library Food Drive

The Escondido public library is allowing people to donate food items instead of  paying fines for overdue books and movies. The food items will be given to Interfaith Community Services in Escondido now through December 31st, where they will then be distributed to their holiday Adopt A Family program.

Hillcrest Holiday Pub Crawl

If you want to participate in some weekend fun, you can participate in the December 19th Mama’s Kitchen event. They are doing a Hillcrest Holiday Pub Crawl. Donate two cans of food while wearing an ugly sweater to get a task list and a free drink at the end of the crawl. Mama’s Kitchen delivers meals to men, women, and children who live with AIDS or cancer. The cans of food will go towards this program. Details here

It doesn't matter if it's food, toys, or your time. Any of these charities will make a difference to people who need a little extra help this holiday season.