For the next 30 days – every day until Christmas Eve – Patch will bring you great ways to help spread holiday cheer past your front porch and help people and organizations across the area. There are hundreds of supportive nonprofits in Oakland County with heartwarming missions; we hope one – or several – will strike a chord with Patch readers. We hope you'll take part in this 30 Days of Giving, and take the spirit beyond the holidays, because there is "need" all year long.

Donate toys to children

While participating in Black Friday shopping, or making some local purchases at the independent stores to support Small Business Saturday, consider adding goodies for the Toys for Tots program to the shopping list.

Every year the Toys for Tots program strives to collect thousands of new, unwrapped toys to distribute to needy kids. There are a variety of drop-off locations for Toys for Tots throughout Oakland County. Toys can be anything from Barbie dolls, to puzzles, board games, toy cars and more.

According to one of Oakland County’s Toys for Tots community organizers, Rebecca Yarbrough, the goal is "to make sure that every kid gets a toy."

Throughout Oakland County the following places will serve as drop-off locations:

• ACO Hardware
• Family Dollar
• Art Van Furniture
• Gardner-White Furniture
• The Suburban Collection
• Big Lots
• Toys“R”Us
• Babies“R”Us

Local dropoff spots

Thru Luna's Eyes Hair Salon is a local dropoff location. If you bring a toy, the salon is passing out gift cards for money off services or products. The salon is located at 513 W. Nine Mile Rd. 

Collection bins will be set up through mid-December. For more information visit www.toysfortots.org.  

Do you have a cause you'd like us to write about? Please let us know in comments or email Terry.Parris@patch.com.