First look: Season of Giving in full action at the Salvation Army

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas, especially at the Kansas and Western Missouri Salvation Army.

At a warehouse at Truman Road and Troost Avenue lies a scene that Santa himself would be proud of.

“It’s overwhelming!” said Tom Damewood, a Salvation Army volunteer. “When you first come down and see how much all the generosity of people in our community, they basically give lots of toys. It’s wonderful.”

Damewood showed KCTV5 around the warehouse, which was filled with thousands of toys for boys and girls in need across the Kansas City Metro.

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“We help put them in stacks of either boys and girls and then by age,” he said.

The Salvation Army is busy gathering gifts and donations from the generous community of Kansas... — The Salvation Army is busy gathering gifts and donations from the generous community of Kansas City for those in need.(KCTV5)

“So far we have had I would say about 20,000 toys come through the warehouse, and we’re not done yet,” project coordinator Trisha Thomas said.

Every toy in the warehouse is because of the generosity of Kansas City.

For the past few weeks, KCTV5 has put out the call for Angel Tree donations and so many generous hearts stepped up. Thomas said this year donations are needed more than ever.

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“We have a higher demand and families signing up for assistance this year and we’ve been doing our best to try and accommodate that need as best as we can,” said Trisha.

Once the toys are sorted, they are ready to be picked up by parents, wrapping and all.

“So they get to bring those gifts home and so they can present those gifts as something they were able to do,” she said.

Your generosity helps to put presents under the tree and even food on the table this holiday season.

“A lot times when they pick up, they’re picking up food for winter break or gift cards for groceries, or just getting help with the emergency assistance programs,” said Trisha.

“I mean this is what Christmas is all about: helping and sharing and giving to others,” Tom said. “This is an opportunity to that, it’s a blessing.”

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