Organizer Darlene Barber-Martinez called it a successful day, the culmination of a heartfelt effort.

It was the distribution of Toys for Tots for families who had previously signed up for the program, picking them up from the cafeteria at Cardozo Middle School.

Barber-Martinez offered a huge thank you “for the Riverbank Community Volunteers for making our Toy Giveaway a success.”

She said there were volunteers from Johansen High School, Enochs High School, Cardozo Middle School, Riverbank Afterschool Program personnel, as well as volunteers representing Riverbank High School, Riverbank Boy Scout Troop 1100, and the Pentecostal Church of Riverbank. Also on hand to assist were Stanislaus Sheriff’s Riverbank Deputy Buck and Deputy Johnson, Casa del Rio Family Resource Center personnel and Central Valley Community Resources Board Members.

Barber-Martinez added that the advanced registration saw the program needing gifts for 512 children from birth up to age 12, accounting for 216 families. And she said they had a dozen bikes to raffle off as well.

The bags of items were prepared in advance and stacked inside Cardozo, ready to give out to parents as they arrived for the distribution. All bags contained some toys and other gifts for the children.