As the weather briskly cools down, the jingle of holiday bells and the melodies of familiar carols are just around the corner. In that spirit, Project GIFT® Blackshirt volunteers will host its 12^th annual toy drive on Thursday, Dec. 8 and Friday, Dec. 9 at the Southwire Employee Resource Center in Carrollton, across from the Publix shopping complex.

Southwire’s Project GIFT^® volunteers will accept toys from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m. during the two-day collection event. Toys must be new and unwrapped, focusing on children within the age range of zero to 14.

“We are so excited to, once again, have the opportunity to give back to the children of Carroll County,” said Kristian Whittington, Southwire’s manager of employee engagement and communication and Project GIFT coordinator. “This is my favorite time of year, when the air gets colder, the spirit of the season shines all around the community and we get to have a little bit of holiday fun! We live in a community full of good-hearted people who always show out when it comes to providing to those in need, and I know we’ll see that again this year at our Toys for Tots collection.”

All items collected will be delivered to the Carroll County chapter of the U.S. Marine Corps Toys for Tots program (Toys for Tots) for distribution in the area. Per its website, the primary goal of Toys for Tots is to deliver, through a new toy at Christmas, a message of hope to less fortunate youngsters that will assist them in becoming responsible, productive and patriotic citizens.

“My dream is to reach every child in need in the County. It is amazing how the community comes together - individuals, churches, and businesses,” said Lori Graham, LCO coordinator for Carroll County Toys for Tots. “Businesses like Southwire are the main source of toy donations for Carroll County.  With boxes throughout its Carrollton campus and the two-day Project GIFT event, Southwire’s collection provides the majority of toys distributed in Carroll County.”

A collaborative effort between many local businesses, sponsors for the Southwire-hosted event for 2016 include West Georgia Technical College, Georgia Power, Associated Credit Union, Times-Georgian, Gradick Communications, Megabytes Digital and more.

“We are so thankful to our generous sponsors for continuing to support this event each and every year. We couldn’t accomplish what we do each year without them,” said Whittington. “I hope that through their efforts and the passion our community has for giving back, we can provide another 5,000 toys to the Toys for Tots organization in 2016.”

Updates and additional information regarding our toy drive will be posted via the company’s social media sites. For questions about the event, please call (770) 832-4729.