WESLACO – The CHANNEL 5 NEWS studio has been buzzing with representatives from agencies who help children in need. The toys donated by our viewers to our toy drive were picked up by those agencies on Friday.

Some of the toys are going towards a colonia in Penitas called Pueblo De Palmas. A volunteer from the colonia couldn’t resist sharing a story about last year’s toy distribution.

“Last year, I handed a little girl – I think she was 5 or 6 years old – I handed her a toy and she looked at me and looked at the toy and I said, ‘Is there something wrong?’ She goes no, no. She goes, ‘Thank you for remembering me, I wasn’t forgotten.’ That’s why this toy drive does. It fills the heart and the emptiness of these children that are living in poverty,” Shirley Arnolde said.

Representatives from La Union Del Pueblo, Child Protective Services and Catholic Charities showed up to pick up the toys.

“It’s wonderful to get all these toys, because actually there’s so many kids here in the Valley. We actually service all four counties… from Cameron all the way to Starr County. We reach people that are really in great need and that barely make it with what they make on a day-to-day basis. And so given the opportunity to share some of the toys and bring a smile to a child is so wonderful,” Catholic Charities Executive Director Sister Norma Pimentel said.

The toy drive started 30 years ago for KRGV’s Wednesday Children. All these years later, we don’t forget the children in foster care.

“It means that people think of these kids that maybe they were not going to have anything. And so it helps them to say, well, you know what, someone does care about me enough, and hopefully it brings the families together because Christmas is all about families,” Amanda Salinas, with CPS, said.

We also delivered toys to children in the hospital. Tim Smith, Joel Villanueva, studio camera operator Gabby Gonzalez and Letty Garza went to every single hospital from Rio Grande City to Brownsville to make sure each child received a new toy.

Region One Gear Up also donated more than 100 toys for the toy drive.

We want to extend a big thank you to the Valley for helping make the toy drive memorable and successful.