PITTSFIELD, Mass. - The warehouse at the Berkshire County Sheriff’s Office is full of toys, all sorted and ready to be delivered to kids across the county.

“Here’s toys for 3- to 5-year-old girls, we do have some 3- to 5- to 6- to 8-year-old boys here,” said Chris Keegan, Berkshire County coordinator for Toys for Tots during a walk through the warehouse. “You can see the trucks, here’s a razor scooter here, so we’ve got all kinds of toys.” 


What You Need To Know

  • The Berkshire County Sheriff’s Office has collected thousands of toys for the Toys for Tots campaign
  • A group of volunteers started collecting donations this week and organizing them to get ready to be distributed
  • So far, the group has been able to fill every request they’ve received
  • They anticipate they’ll be sending toys to about 3,000 kids throughout the county this year

Keegan and a team of volunteers started collecting the donations this week from the 200 boxes which have been out since October. Keegan said it’s a lot of work for everyone to get all the toys packed up and organized.

“It may seem like you’re just putting toys in a box and you’re packing them, but they’re going to families and you’re making a kid’s Christmas a little bit brighter than what they would otherwise have,” said Keegan. “So it takes many hands to do this, and I’m very appreciative.”

So far, Keegan and his team have been able to fill every request they’ve received. They’ve filled dozens of bags with toys which are ready to be picked up by families this weekend.

“They’ve been notified by phone or email that their orders are ready, and I’ll be up here Saturday morning from 9:30 to 11:30,” said Keegan. “They’ll come in and show and show an ID that it is in fact them, and we’ll give them their toys.”

The group anticipates they’ll be sending toys to about 3,000 kids this year, and there’s still plenty left for any last-minute requests. Keegan said it wouldn’t have been possible without the generosity of the Berkshire community.

“I wasn’t surprised by them coming through for a cause like this,” said Keegan. “It seems like the people who live and work in this county always seem to rally around a charitable event like this, and boy did they come through.”