The Toy Run Foundation began in 1988 when Russ & Sharon Welch (previous Harley-Davidson dealer in town) wanted nothing more than to help needy families during the Holidays. Over the years, it’s blossomed into what it is today with the growing support from our local community and our very generous sponsors! 

Each year, our Foundation partners up with local schools, church’s, and social organizations to receive nominations of families (we don’t accept nominations from individuals). We focus on those that might be a struggling veteran/single parent household, they might have gone through a traumatic event recently, families with disabled children, and families that are just down on their luck. Once all nominations turned in, our extremely thorough interviewing process begins. It includes an initial phone interview, an in-home interview, and a final committee selection meeting that ensures we choose the right families. After receiving roughly 70 nominations each year, we select between 12 and 15! This is how the name of our foundation is slightly misleading. Toys are a very small piece to the puzzle. Typically, our families that are selected lack basic necessities such as beds, blankets, clothing, and furniture, so we are able to provide major items that’ll help them back on their feet. We don’t accept clothes and/or toy donations simply because we choose different families each year that will have different needs. (For those who aren’t sure how to help, monetary support is the best way! Absolutely 100% of the money raised is used to buy the children in each family their needs, and of course some toys from Santa! No electronics!)) We have major sponsors, Ashley HomeStore donates all of the furniture needed (bunk beds, dressers, couches, kitchen tables, desks, etc.) and The Sleep Station BCS donates the mattresses, box springs, and frames. Another sponsor, Ruffino Meats & Food Service, donates turkeys! Our committee shops for each family, wraps each gift individually, and we finally load the gifts in the D & D Moving & Storage Inc. (major sponsor) truck the day before. If you’ve noticed the donation request of lightly used stuffed animals throughout the year, those will be used to hand out to the neighborhood children that will gather around to see Santa! On Toy Run day, we will ride motorcycles to each home and hand deliver each gift with the help of those who join us!