Our Toys for Tots Drive normally ends up close to 1,000 toys between our "Christmas In July" and Christmas campaigns. This year our city really came through for our kids. During the December toy drive alone, we ended up with just over 1,100 toys!

We had some businesses who really came through for us this and every year. Tehachapi Martial Arts had a few hundred toys, while Save Mart and Flying J brought over several toys on their own. Miramar and Country Real Estate are other locations that had an overabundance of toys.

We've been fortunate to have a number of locations for people to drop off toys. Edward Jones, BVS Realty, Treasure Trove, Circle K, the City of Tehachapi and our Police Department all participated, as well.

The arrangement we made with Toys for Tots years ago was that every toy stays local. We finished the drive with enough time to make sure toys arrived at our local schools and Salvation Army to supply the needs of families by Christmas!

We also wanted to thank our sponsors for their generous gifts. Tina Larson at Alert Disaster, Tina Aldrich at Starbucks, Hitching Post Theaters, as well as Barbara at Jake's Steakhouse, and Mano and Mei Mei at Red House BBQ for providing gifts for the drawings.

Santa himself provided a 45-inch TV for the drawing.

Thank you, Tehachapi, for coming through for our kids. Yet again, our town knows the true meaning of Christmas!

Marty Pay and his staff at Farmers Insurance have coordinated the Toys for Tots drive for several years. Their office is at 212 W. F St. in Downtown Tehachapi.