Each holiday season, Western Oregon University’s community comes together to collect toys and gifts for local foster youth of all ages. We’re excited to announce that this year the community collected the most toys in the drive’s history. Local staff from the Department of Human Services rely on support from our community to help provide the best holiday season for the children they serve.

Drop boxes were housed in nine campus buildings and donations were collected to buy toys through the WOU Foundation under WOU’s Fostering Success initiative. Foster students from the Wolves Fostering Hope club joined organizers to purchase toys.

Jackson Stalley, one of the toy drive organizers and a campus library technician, said, “Thanks to everyone who made this possible, it was truly a community effort. Not only was the campus response overwhelming (the Student Health Center again set the gold standard for giving!) but Independence Cinema (Prestige Theaters), Beauty Lounge on Main St., Glam Salon on Monmouth Ave., His & Hers salon on Monmouth Ave all donated gift certificates (thank them by patronizing their businesses!). The Toy Factory, Brick Circuit, and Big 5 of Corvallis all provided discounts to allow our donated funds to stretch further.”