Pull up and give to Westside families at (literal) toy drive

It’s not too late to help a Westside family at Christmas by donating a new unwrapped toy to the Salvation Army’s Gifts of Hope program.

Stutters DKI, which recently opened a West Kelowna location at the former Greyhound site at 2565 Main St., is hosting a Drive Thru Toy Drive Saturday from 9 a.m. to noon.

“We’re committed to being in the community,” said Leah Kirkham with Stutters, adding they had a great location for a drive thru and thanking nearby businesses for allowing them to use the parking lot for three hours on a busy Saturday.

The toy drive had been delayed because of provincial health orders prohibiting drive thru events. Those orders have now been relaxed.

A traffic safety company will be directing vehicles during the event and will get people to pull in and either pass the toys through the vehicle window or pop their trunks so volunteers in COVID-19 appropriate gear can pick up the donations.

The Highway 97 northbound entrance will be closed during the drive thru and people will be directed to enter and exit the drive thru using the Highway 97 south entrance.

People are asked to remain in their vehicles.

Kirkham said they are planning to have Santa on site.

Along with volunteers from Stutters, the RCMP will be on hand helping to collect donations.

At the end of the toy drive, all the donations will be loaded up in a big Stutters cube van and will receive an RCMP escort over to the Westside Salvation Army to deliver the toys.

Lenetta Parry of the Westside Salvation Army said they will continue serving families until Christmas Eve.