Getting kids gifts for the holidays with the NCW Toy Drive
For many years, Upper Valley MEND organized a toy drive for the Upper Valley, helping make sure local families had gifts to give their kids for the holidays.
With all the other activities happening at MEND during November and December, however, managing the toy drive became increasingly difficult. In 2023, MEND opted partner with the Cascade School District and join the NCW Toy Drive, a region-wide operation sponsored primarily by Les Schwab Tire that helps bring gifts to kids in Chelan, Douglas and Okanogan Counties.
“It works much better for us as a partnership,” says MEND Human Services Director Bob Mark.
Through generous donations at community toy drops across North Central Washington, the NCW Toy Drive gathers a range of toys and gift cards for children of all ages. On the day of the Toy Drive’s Gift Distribution event, parents can pick out toys for each of their children from the tables sorted by age, and even wrap the gifts while they’re there.
The NCW Toy Drive makes sure that all children within a family get gifts, whether they’re old enough to attend school or not. Families who live in Cashmere can register with Cashmere Cares through the Cashmere School District if they’d like to get help getting gifts for their children. Families in the Cascade School District can contact the school to get on their list. If the family’s children do not include any that are already in school—ages 0 to 5—they can register for the Toy Drive at the Community Cupboard.
The 2025 Toy Distribution event for families that live within the Cascade School District will be Friday, December 12, from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. at Cascade High School.
Ways to help with the Toy Drive
The Toy Drive is only possible thanks to generous community donations and volunteers. Here are some of the many ways people can help:
Donate gift cards or funds for gift cards to Upper Valley MEND, which will be passed on to the school to be used as gifts for teenagers. Places like Wal-Mart, Target and Amazon are great options, since kids can choose from a variety of things they might want, including clothing, electronics, etc. Getting toys and gift cards at local Leavenworth businesses is also a great option.
Take new, unwrapped toys to local drop boxes. In the Cascade School District, those drop boxes are in the following locations:
· Cashmere Valley Bank
· Dan’s Food Market
· Leavenworth Library
· LOGE Camp (downtown Leavenworth location)
· Peshastin Library
If you’re interested in volunteering, contact Dora Campos (dcampos@cascadesd.org), the NCW Toy Drive coordinator for the Cascade School District. This includes helping move bikes that will be distributed to kids, helping move gifts from storage in Cashmere to Leavenworth, helping set up the tables of toys for parents to view, or helping during the toy distribution event itself. Most of the volunteer dates will happen in early December.