Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
- Utah participated in the world's largest toy drive, distributing over 16,000 gifts.
- Organizer Jimmy Rex noted the growing need, surpassing last year's 10,000 toys.
- Families eagerly awaited, with some waiting over an hour for the toy giveaway.
SALT LAKE CITY — The world's largest toy drive is distributing hundreds of thousands of toys across multiple cities and made its big stop in Lehi on Wednesday.
Jimmy Rex, an organizer, said that by the end of the event, more than 16,000 gifts would be donated to families in need in Utah alone.
Helene Mukandayisenga, originally from Rwanda, received some of those gifts. She expressed gratitude as she carried out new toys for her grandchildren.
"I feel happy," she said. "My grandkids will be happy at Christmas."
Hundreds attend event
On Wednesday morning, the turnout was bigger than expected.
"I got here … and there was 40 people waiting outside," Rex told the Deseret News.
Worried about traffic in their small parking lot, he opened the doors early. Within minutes, he said, the line turned into a steady flow of families moving through a makeshift "toy aisle," selecting gifts meant to show up under Christmas trees across the Wasatch Front.
The giveaway marked Salt Lake City's stop on the World's Largest Toy Drive, a multicity effort organized by Trina's Kids Foundation, a California-based nonprofit.
Over 250,000 toys given
Rex, a Utah entrepreneur who runs a men's coaching community called We Are The They, said he got involved through Dan Fleyshman, who works with Trina's Kids Foundation.
This year marked Rex's fifth time helping organize the Utah stop, he said. Last year, he estimated the Salt Lake effort gave out about 10,000 toys. This year, that number would be beat as needs seem bigger than ever.
Including the other stops of the tour, Trina's Kids Foundation will give over 250,000 toys away throughout the country this year.
A line that didn't stop
Families began arriving far earlier than expected — some waiting more than an hour — and organizers had to adjust distribution rules throughout the day to make sure toys didn't run out.
They initially allowed four toys per child, then dropped to three as the line grew, Rex said, trying to stretch the supply while keeping the process fair.
At one point, they ran out of toys and "literally bought the entire store next door" so they wouldn't have to turn anyone away.
"We had a continuous line of 50-plus people grabbing toys … for hours straight," he said.
The moment that made it 'worth it'
Behind the scenes, Rex said the logistics were intense: setting up the warehouse, organizing inventory and coordinating fundraising events on top of the giveaway itself. He admitted he had a moment earlier in the week where he wondered if the effort was sustainable.
Then he saw the toys stacked and ready.
"I kind of just got super choked up," he said, thinking about the families who would come through the doors. "You see people … they need it."
Esther Aquino, a mother who brought her children, was one that needed it. She said she felt very happy.
"Sometimes life is hard, but now we can get stuff for them," she said.
Her daughter, 4-year-old Mia Thornton-Aquino, was most excited for her new Hello Kitty toys.
Fundraisers for gifts
To help cover costs, organizers are running multiple fundraisers, including a silent auction and a "charity date auction" where bidders can potentially go on a date with an influencer.
Rex also said companies and individuals donated toys directly, including one business, Sparta Solar, that brought "a couple thousand dollars' worth" of gifts.
Toy manufacturers also allow gifts to be bought at cost so the organizers can stretch their dollars more effectively.
How to help
People can support the drive through Trina's Kids Foundation or through the World's Largest Toy Drive, which lists ways to donate money or give new, unwrapped toys.
And for anyone thinking their contribution wouldn't matter, Rex had a simple message: Don't underestimate the effect of just one act of kindness.
"You actually can make a big difference," he said. "I know it maybe doesn't seem like it — just a kid getting toys on Christmas ... but I know it's big."
