Newtown Police Department officers and other volunteers spent time at both The Toy Tree and TJ Maxx on Saturday, December 10, for Stuff-A-Cruiser drives to collect donations of new toys for the US Marine Corps Reserve Toys For Tots program.toysfortots.orgAll types of toys are accepted and then donated for the US Marine Corps Reserve Toys For Tots program. The mission of the program is to collect new, unwrapped toys during October, November, and December each year, and then distribute those toys as Christmas gifts to less fortunate children in the community in which the Toys For Tots campaign is conducted, according to the program's website, The Newtown Bee, 5 Church Hill Road;

By midday at The Toy Tree, the vehicle stationed there was already stocked with toy trucks, stuffed animals, and games.

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Newtown resident Dave Silber, who is serving as the area coordinator for the Marine Corps Reserve Toys For Tots, said toys are collected for children aged 17 and under, and this year there is a great demand for donations for teenagers 13 to 17 years old and newborns to one-year-olds.

"We had roughly 15 shopping carts full of toys between both areas," said Mr Silber on Monday, December 12. "This was an outstanding effort by the Newtown residents supporting this drive."

As one of the organizers for the Newtown Police Department's Stuff-A-Cruiser drives, Matthew Wood said by e-mail on Tuesday, December 13, "The Toys for Tots toy drive was very successful. We had a lot of volunteers this year and a lot of people came out to donate toys. It was one of our most successful years and we had a lot of help from TJ Maxx and The Toy Tree to make it successful."

Different businesses around town also have drop boxes available to make donations through Saturday, December 17. The drop boxes are located at the following:

Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices, 84 South Main Street;

Coldwell Banker, 45 South Main Street;

Dodgingtown Market & Deli, 57 Dodgingtown Road;

Hubbell Wiring Systems, 14 Prospect Drive;

The Learning Experience, 274 South Main Street (within Plaza South);

Newtown MediSpa, 123 South Main Street (Highland Plaza);

Newtown Savings Bank, at both 39 Main Street (its main branch) and 228 South Main Street (within Sand Hill Plaza);

PhysicianOne Urgent Care, 266 South Main Street (Plaza South);

Popowich Chiropractic, 71 South Main Street (Ricky's Shopping Center);

Sherwin-Williams Paint, 255 South Main Street (Waterfall Plaza);

The Vein Institute, 33 Church Hill Road; and Wireless Zone of Newtown, 228 South Main Street (Sand Hill Plaza).