Landers Hosts Holiday Toy & Food Drive for Center for Children and Families

12/1/2022 UPDATE:

We’re hosting a toy drive for our friends at Norman’s Center for Children and Families, Inc. again this year! The toy drive will take place December 1-16, 2022 here at Landers Chevrolet of Norman and at our sister dealership, Landers Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram of Norman. Help us bring the holidays to local families by donating new unwrapped toys, food and/or diapers. In this blog from our 2021 drive below, read more about CCFI and the amazing work they’re doing right here in our Norman community. You’ll also find examples of what toys and food will be accepted – last year’s Amazon wish list is no longer available.

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Each holiday season, we at Landers Auto Group of Norman, Oklahoma collect toys so local children who otherwise wouldn’t have a present under the tree will have something to unwrap on Christmas Day. This year, we’ve partnered with Norman’s Center for Children and Families, Inc. (CCFI) for our annual Christmas toy drive. 

CCFI is a nonprofit organization that serves children and their families who have experienced or are at risk of experiencing child abuse, neglect or other trauma. CCFI’s mission is to “heal children, empower youth and strengthen families, because every child deserves to grow up safe, nurtured and loved.” Some of the services CCFI provides are individual and family counseling, after-school programming at the Boys & Girls Club of Norman, a baby pantry and parent-child education and support services.

CCFI serves Cleveland County and surrounding areas. It originally opened as a youth shelter in 1969 and recently celebrated its 50th anniversary.

Learn more about CCFI and its mission here.

From now until December 10, 2021, we will be collecting new, unwrapped toys for the children served by CCFI in our showroom on Ed Noble Parkway in Norman! You can also stop by our sister dealership, Landers Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram of Norman, to donate. Drop by either dealership between 8:30 a.m. and 8 p.m., Monday-Saturday, to place your gift in a truck bed in the showroom.

We ask that you not bring large items like basketball goals or bikes for logistical reasons. 

Examples of toys needed include, but aren’t limited to: 

• LEGO, LEGO DUPLO and LEGO Friends sets
• Building blocks
• Small toy cars and trucks
• STEM toys
• Coloring books and supplies
• Art supplies and kits
• Baby dolls and accessories
• Dolls (L.O.L. Surprise!, Barbie, etc.)
• Creative play items (play kitchen food, cash register, dress-up clothes, etc.)
• Sensory items
• Baby and toddler toys
• Books (all reading levels, from board books to young adult)
• Puzzles (all difficulty levels/number of pieces)
• Board games
• Headphones and earbuds
• Backpacks and fanny packs

Want to help with the toy drive but don’t have much time to buy a present and then bring it to the dealership? We have an Amazon wishlist! Pick out a gift, add it to your cart, check out and you’re done! You can ship the gift directly to us at Landers or to your home if you’d like to drop it off.

View our Amazon Wishlist here.

“Thanks to the generosity of the Norman community, we are able to help hundreds of families have a truly magical holiday season,” CCFI Development Director Melissa Klink said. “We appreciate all of the love and support shown for our agency and the Holiday Wishes program.”

In addition to the toy drive, we’re also working with CCFI and local Rotary Clubs to deliver holiday meals to families through December 10, 2021. Our goal is to create meal kits with the non-perishable food donated to feed 50 families of four for a holiday dinner. 

Items needed for family meals and goals for each:

• $20 gift card to Walmart, Target or another grocery store – 50 needed
  • For a turkey or ham and other perishable items
• Four cans of vegetables – 200 needed
• Two cans of fruit – 100 needed
• Two starchy items – 100 needed
  • Pouch of potatoes, rice or mac & cheese
• One bread item – 50 needed
  • Stuffing mix or cornbread mix
• One dessert item – 50 needed
  • Boxed cake and frosting or cookie mix

For more information about either of these drives, contact CCFI at 405-364-1420 or [email protected].

Happy holidays from Landers and CCFI!